Old Friends, New Friends
by fowlgirl19
Summary: The Chase family has a daughter, Diana. They will be staying at Fowl manor for her school term at the newly mixed St. Bartelby's. Diana is overjoyed to meet her parents' old friends but Artemis...not so much. Artemis/OC
1. Meet the Fowls

Tell me how I'm doing since this is my first fanfic on this site. Don't forget to R&R

A green eyed girl with raven hair sighed as she uninterestedly looked out the car window of her bodyguard's navy blue Bentley. She, her parents, as well as her bodyguard were going to stay at the Fowl Manor for her school term at the newly mixed St. Bartleby's.

"Rhodes, are we there yet?" The girl asked the man driving with chocolate brown eyes and dark chocolate hair.

"Not yet, Lady D. Soon." She smiled when Rhodes used his pet name for her. She insisted on calling her that instead of Lady Diana, her 12 year old self of course. Her phone rang a few minutes after.

"Hello?"

"Dee Dee? It's your mother. Are you here yet?"

"Almost Mama, I think we're pulling up in the driveway now. Bye."

Rhodes went outside of Diana's door to open it for her. And he walked her to the elegant manor, so he could get their luggage. She knocked three times and not long after a woman not much older than her own mother answered the door.

"Are you Bella's daughter?"

"Yes ma'am, I am. Are you Mrs. Fowl?"

"Oh, yes I am, now come in! Come in! No need to stand outside!" And Mrs. Fowl ushered Diana inside.

She led her to what she assumed was the living room and noticed that including her parents and Mrs. Fowl, there was a total of six people in there waiting to meet her.

"Everyone," Mrs. Fowl chimed, "this is Robert and Bella's daughter, Diana."

When she introduced her she made a shy, little wave. And at the sound of her name her parents rose up to sit her down on the seat her father took next to her mother while he stood.

He turned to his daughter, "Diana, this is Artemis Fowl Sr., my old and very close friend." He gave a very friendly and warm smile to her. Robert Chase spoke again, "This is his son, Artemis Fowl II." He looked ather and gave a curt nod. Mr. Chase continued, "This is his bodyguard, Butler and his sister Juliet." They both nodded but Juliet gave Diana a wink which made her smile.

"Robert," Diana noticed that it was the older Artemis, "doesn't your daughter have a bodyguard?"

She answered for her father, "Yes I do Mr. Fowl. He's just retrieving my luggage for me."

"Well now, why don't you help him out, Butler?" Mr. Fowl suggested.

"I would be happy to sir." Butler answered back.

So he made his way outside where he would find a very special surprise. When he got to the driveway he saw a man at the trunk of a blue Bentley that looked oddly familiar to him.

"Can I help you with those?" He addressed the man at the back. He looked up at the Eurasian man.

"Dom, is that you?" In the light of the porch lights, Butler could clearly see the dark chocolate colored hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"Ricky?" he went up to what he believed was his old friend as he continued, "Yeah, it's me."

Ricky Rhodes smirked at his old friend and did their "guy" handshake.

"It really is you Dom. So this is where you've been all this time."

"Yeah, come on, let me help you." Butler offered.

"Cool, here, take this." and Rhodes handed him a very large rose colored bag.

Butler laughed, "I'm guessing this is Diana's?"

Rhodes countered back, "No this is mine smart guy." And he laughed right along with him and together they strode inside.

How is it so far? I really hope my OCs aren't Sues (or Stus) so far! Tell me what you think!


	2. The Challenge

I forgot to say; this will be somewhere in the middle of TOD and no matter what happens, Root will be alive. (He needs to be alive trust me) But Artemis will have his "growing up" problem and Artemis and LEP still kind of dislike each other ok? Tell me what you think of this chapter! And sorry I piled up all of this last minute info on you guys! Don't forget to R&R!

Diana was typing away on her laptop, the one her mother gave to her for her school term. Artemis was watching her and both their parents were catching up on things in the other room. Juliet was in the kitchen making some snacks for everyone. Then Diana and Artemis heard laughter.

"Is that Rhodes and Butler?"she asked him.

"Possibly and Rhodes is your bodyguard correct?"

She looked at him and answered back, "Whatever gave you idea Artemis?" He gave her a little glare but she gave him a taunting smile.

"Hey Lady D?"

"Artemis?"

"What is it?" they both answered.

Rhodes continued, "You'll never believe who this is!"

"He's your old friend from Madame Ko right?"Diana said to her guard in a bored tone.

"No, he's my old friend from Madame--wait, how did you know?"

She looked at him and smiled,"Lucky guess, Iguess."

Rhodes smiled back at her while she returned to her work. But she suddenly stopped, looking like she remembered something.

"Rhodes?"

"Yeah?""Where's my guitar?"

"Oh, I think I put it upstairs in your room already. Sorry."

She sighed, "Never mind then."She turned to Artemis, "Would you have a piano here by any chance?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Why?"

She grinned at him, "Because I want you to play a game with me."

Artemis looked at her with a 'do-I-look-I play-games' look.

She only responded with a mischievous whisper, "Afraid you're going to lose?"

As an answer, he got up and motioned Diana to follow him.

"Is he always this cheerful?" Rhodes asked his friend.

"Only if he got challenged like he did now." Butler responded, "And what kind of game is she talking about anyway?"

Rhodes just grinned, "A music game."

Then Rhodes walked into the same room their principles did. Butler just thought to himself, _I hope Diana listens to the same music Artemis does, or he's gonna lose--big time._ And then he went into the room as well.

In his family's ballroom, Artemis showed Diana the baby grand; what she said next surprised Artemis.

"This is from Steinway and Sons right? The Macassar Ebony? From their Crown Jewel Collection? We have East Indian Rosewood ourselves."

Artemis was astounded, all girls in St. Bartelby's don't even own a piano, yet she knows the company name, the collection name, and even the name of the piano! She was one to keep an eye on, this Chase girl.

"So what kind of game are we going to play Diana?" he asked her. She looked back at him before taking a seat in front of the piano and smiled once again.

"We're going to play a guessing game, a musical guessing game to be exact."

"Oh?"

"Yes, and if you can guess all three pieces of music I'm about to play, I'll tell you some things about myself."

"And if I can't?" Although Artemis thought this wasvery unlikely.

She pondered for a moment, "Then you have to find out by yourself."

Artemis smirked, he almost felt sorry for her. This was going to be way too easy. "Deal."

And she started to playa piece of classical music that he recognized at once. Then she stopped and turned to him.

"Well?" Diana inquired.

"That was a piece from Tchaikovsky's opera, 'Eugen Onegin', the overture I believe."

She smirked at him, "Impressive, Master Fowl."

"Thank you, Lady Chase." he responded also with a smirk on his face.

"All right, here's the next one Artemis."

Then she started to play on the baby grand once more. This too was familiar to him.

And when she had finished he answered, "That was the 'Black Key Etude' by Chopin."

Diana clapped her hands in delight and smiled, "Very good!" Then she had a mischievous grin on her face and continued, "But you will never guess the last one." And she started to play.

Artemis' eyes widened with surprise and when she finished playing, he answered with a triumphant grin and tone. "That was 'It's No Game' by David Bowie!'"

Now it was Diana's turn to look surprised and said, "Yes, but what part?"

Artemis smirked at her, "Part 2."

Then Rhodes and Butler walked into the room, it was a long walk, and Rhodes asked, "Which one you musical geniuses won?"

Diana sighed, "The plural for 'genius' is 'genii', Rhodes. Not 'geniuses'; that's redundant."

He scoffed, "Whatever, so who won?"

"I did." Artemis said to the eager Rhodes.

Rhodes turned to Butler and said, "Hah! I told you he'd win! Now pay up!"

Diana and Artemis both turned to their big friends and said, "What are you two talking about?"

This time Butler answered their question. "While we were walking here, I bet Rhodes that Diana would win and Rhodes bet that Artemis would win. I lost."

"Sorry, Butler." Diana said to him. "But if may ask, what did you bet?"

Rhodes answeredher this time, "20 bucks! So fork it over, Butler!"

So he reached into his pocket and gave him $20. Rhodes giggled like a little boy that just got a new video game. Diana looked annoyed, Artemis looked confused, and Butler looked like he was about to strangle Rhodes on the spot.

Diana rose from the pianoseat and said to her giggling friend, "Come on, Rhodes, I'm hungry."

He immediately stopped and looked all serious, "Okay. I think the kitchen's over this way." And they both walked in that direction.

Artemis said to Butler, "Rhodes seems...nice."

"So is Diana. You think she's pretty?"

"Yes. I mean no. I-I-I mean. Ugh, what's the point? You will just keep asking me that until I say I think she's pretty. And are you sure that there's nothing I can do to make this blasted puberty stop?"

"No Artemis, it's natural for boys your age to think girls you like are pretty."

"I do _not_ like her!"

"Sure you don't." the manservant replied and smiled slyly."Come on, I think Juliet is almost finished with dinner."

"All right, I'm coming." But for some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about the game that he and Diana played. Did he really like her? I mean, he had just met her a little over an hour ago. He made a mental note to himself that he would put an end to this puberty problem once and for all.


	3. Escapes and Excuses

Do you think the conversation was interesting to Artemis?

Diana was lying down in her room, reading her favorite book and munching on some chocolate chip cookies that Juliet had made. The door opened and Rhodes and Artemis walked inside.

"Hey Lady D, dinner's ready." She just nodded; Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, Lady D? Hello?"

Her manservant asked while walking up to his principle. He tilted he head and poked her right shoulder. He received no response from her. Next he tried sharking the same shoulder. He still didn't get a response. Artemis on the other hand had a _very_ amused look on his face. Then Rhodes took her chocolate chip cookies off her bedside table just as she was about to reach for another one. Yeah, she noticed _that_; she felt around for them and finally looked up at Rhodes, not noticing Artemis in the corner.

"Rhodes! Give me my cookies back!"

He just chuckled, "Sorry, but I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. What the _heck _were you reading?"

"'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini'." Artemis looked surprised.

"Aren't you supposed to learn that when you're a senior?"Rhodes asked Diana.

She just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Not if you're a genius, which I am."

Hesmiled, "Yes you are a genius, Lady D. Now come on, dinnertime."And he left the room.

"Coming." She looked at Artemis, who she just found out was there."Hey, Artemis."

"Hello, Diana. May I escort you to the dining room, Lady Chase?"

She giggled, which oddly made him smile a bit."Yes, I would be honored to have you as my escort, Master Fowl."

He smirked at this. "So were you really reading 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini'?"

"Of course I was or, do you just don't appreciate psychology like the many other bleak individuals of the world."

"Actually, I appreciate psychology just as much as you do."

"Really? What's your favorite sub-topic? Mine is cognitive processes, which ranges from perception to memory and thought processes."

"I would have to say…practicum, the ethical application of psychological theory and data in an organization or service."

"Hmmm, interesting."

They came to a set of double doors and Artemis opened the right and held it out for her. Diana smiled and blushed and walked into the fancy dining room, taking the seat to the left ofher mother and the right of her father. Artemis then shut the door, and took his seat across from Diana, left of his mother, and right of his father. Butler, Juliet, and Rhodes were standing behind their principles. And dinner began, until a mobile phone rang to break the silence.

**7:00 pm, GUN Headquarters,Surveillance Control,Dublin, Ireland**

A guy with copper colored hair and eyes along with his friend who had stormy grey eyes and bleach blonde hair with a tuft of sandy blonde hair peeking out in front were working on the convicts' files in their Control Room,when Jetix's dad burst through the door, getting ready to yell up a storm.

"_JONATHAN!!! WHERE IS THAT LATE SQUADRON OF YOURS?!!!_"

The bronze haired teen that was called Jetix by his friends sighed and said trying to keep his cool, "I told them that they could be on call tonight and to look out for new members."

His father growled at him, "Well whatever new recruits they bring, they better be worth it." And then he stormed out of the room.

The blonde named Bryan called Sparks by his friends just looked scared for life, "Dude! How do you put up with him?"

Jetix on the other hand just shrugged his shoulders and told his colleague, "I don't know, I just can."

Then they heard a ring; it was coming from the dash panel in front of Sparks. He pushed the blinking button and an image of one of the security guards was shown.

Sparks spoke into his headset microphone, "Carter? What's going on?"

"One of the convicts has escaped, sir." Jetix and Sparks looked at each other with a worried face.

Jetix spoke into his head-mike, "Which one?"

Carter responded, "No.162534, Jetix sir."

The co-commander told the guard, "Thank you Carter, dismissed."

He gave a salute to the co-commander, "Yes sir."

Then Jetix turned his attention to his technician and asked him, "Should we call them?"

"I promised that I wouldn't bother themon the first night."

"What's more important, a dangerous convict out at night or interrupting their dinner?"

The blonde teen sighed and answered his superior, "The convict, but you call them."

Jetix smirked, "Okay,what number is the speed dial for the phone?"

Sparks answered back, "4, I think."

And he pushed the button, waiting for someone to answer the call.

**7:25 pm, Dining Room, Fowl Manor**

They were all eating silently when a ringtone, Bach's 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 Allegro' to be exact, broke the silence. Diana gasped, knowing who was calling.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to turn off my mobile!" She apologized.

"It's all right dear. Now why don't you go and answer it."

"Thank you Mrs. Fowl."

She left the dining room, going to the living room where she left her bag with her things. She dug around for her phone and found it. Diana hurriedly pulled out her Diamond Crypto Smartphone (which cost het a pretty penny, believe you me.) and half-spoke, half-yelled.

"Guys, I told you not to call me today because I'm settling in!"

The voice on the other line laughed and answered back, "Sorry, but somebody got loose and I need my best agents for the job to track that sucker down!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere Jetix….. But thank you though."

"No problem, but come on, my dad's going to have my head if I don't have him by tonight."

Diana sighed and thought to herself, _He knows how to get to me, but I know how to get to him._

"If Rhodes and I can catch the con tonight, will you let me have my first day of school off?"

"I don't know I'd be taking a risk…but for you, okay."

She smiled really big, "Oh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Jetix!"

"Once again, no problem. Let me tell you the verification…. Let's see, he has a cross-shaped birthmark on his left ear and if that doesn't work, he has a thunderbolt-shaped burnmark on the bottom of his right wrist."

"Okay. We'll bring him down at say…ten-ish?"

"Fine by me. Good luck Diana."

"Thanks Jetix. Bye."

Then she shut off her phone, and headed back to the dining room, thinking of a good excuse to go without worrying her parents upon entering.

"Mama?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"That was Jonathan. Rhodes and I have to go. He said it was an emergency. I'm really sorry."

"All right, you can go."

"Thanks, Mom!" And she went over and gave both her parents a hug and a peck on the cheek.

Bella Chase just smiled at her daughter and her husband turned to her manservant, "Rhodes?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I want you to bring back Dee Dee no later then 11:00 pm, or there will be severe consequences. Understand?"

"Yes sir. Of course sir. Come on, Lady D, go get dressed. I'll warm up the car."

"Okay." So she headed upstairs to change in clothes you would never expect a girl like her to wear if you had just met her.

Don't for get to R&R! But I just need an opinion. Should I post a DIFFERENT STROY with a crossover between AF and a book called Twilight or just another AF story? Has anyone read Twilight? If you haven't read it! It's the most awesomest book in the world! Next to Artemis Fowl that is!


	4. Twin Convicts?

**7:45 pm, LEP HQ, Operations Booth**

Holly was just bringing in the last escaped convict...or so she thought.

"Can't I ever get a day off? Just for one day?"

"Holly, we got another one and he's somewhere in Ireland." said Foaly meeting her at the door.

"Ugh. I'm getting tired of this and I _really _hope I don't meet Fowl along the way."the brown haired elf complained.

"I know, but somebody's got to do it. Let me give you the identification, follow me." He trotted to his trusty computer and said to his friend, "He has a thunderbolt-shaped birth mark on his left ear and a cross-shaped burnmark on the bottom of his right wrist."

She sighed, "Okay, hopefully, this guy will be a lot easier to find than the last two."

Foaly smirked at her, "Yeah,like when it took us hours to find the seventh one, but he was under a bench in Police Plaza."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny." Holly sighed, "I guess I better catch the next magma flare."

"Next one's comin' up in five minutes. Good luck."

"Thanks, and see ya!"Then she ran off to the pod station.

Foaly thought to himself, _If only Lilli Frond was accomplished as you are Holly...yeah right._

He laughed to himself at that last thought.

**Same Time, Downtown Dublin, Farrow Street**

A man in his early forties wearing a black hoodie with 'GUN' on the back, and sweats was running from a navy blue Bentley, housing Diana trying to get him to stop and Rhodes tailing him. His name was Drake Damion.

"You'll never catch me alive!" he yelled back at them.

After he said this Diana thought about how clichéd that was and responded very calmly, "If you don't want to end up like a piece of Swiss cheese, stop resisting."

"Never!" He panted.

Diana merely chuckled at him and sighed a malevolous sigh and said wickedly, "Last chance, Damion, if you wish to stay conscious." He looked afraid, but kept on running. She spoke to Rhodes, "Stop the car and restrain him. I'll take care of his running away problem."

"Yes of course."

So he stopped the car and they both went outside, Diana wearing a black t-shirt that says, **"Don't Shoot Because You Hate Me, Shoot Me Because I'm Prettier Than You." **paired with faded jeans with a white sweater tied around her waist, along with a purple Coach sling and black etines. And Rhodes was wearing a blood red tee saying, **"I'm Gonna Hunt You Down Forever 'Til The End Of Time... Or At Least 'Til Lunch."** paired with dark blue cargo pants with a gun holder at his hip and gray and black Sketchers.

"Lady D, I think he went inside the abandoned warehouse."

"All right, let's go before he does something stupid that might jeprodize himself or our jobs."

He smirked at her comment, "All right, what are you going to do after I catch him?"

She smiled that familiar mischievous smile and replied bluntly,"Let's just say that he'll never forget it."

"Lady D, you're an evil genius you know that?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Now come on, we need to hunt him down." She loved to say that because she was named after the Roman goddess of hunting.

Holly was zipping around downtown Dublin when she spotted a guy that fitted Foaly's description, a little on the tall side, early forties and wearing dark clothing with three capital letters printed on the hoodie he was wearing. She tracked him down to an abandoned warehouse on Farrow Street. She also saw a young Mud Girl accompanied by a large Mud Man. Oddly enough, the pair reminded her of Artemis and Butler. Boy, was she in for a surprise.

Don't for get to R&R! But I just need an opinion. Should I post a DIFFERENT STORY with a crossover between AF and a book called Twilight or just another AF story?


	5. Game Plans

Holly flew to the roof of the two story high abandoned warehouse. Then she spoke into her helmet.

"Okay Foaly, I'm at the warehouse."

"All right. Now I've tracked him down inside the largest room of this storage house, and it should be located in the middle of the building. And remember to mind wipe the Mud Men there are there."

"All right, I'll check back in once I get to the room."

"Okay."

So she made her way to a rope dangling down to the floor of the second story, but then a huge hand covered with a cloth that smelled like chloroform clamped down on her mouth and then she felt like she was falling into a dark abyss, never stopping.

Rhodes and Diana made their way into the warehouse, keeping a lookout for the criminal.

"Rhodes, go ahead and find Damion, I'll find an alternate route to get you back."

"Get me back where exactly?" Diana sighed,

"Because there will most likely be a series of traps that will prevent you from coming back the way you came."

"You're right. Just tell me what the verification is again."

"Cross-shaped birth mark on his left ear and thunderbolt-shaped burnmark on the bottom of his right wrist. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. So see you on the other side I guess." She smirked,

"See you, but I'll be back." Then they both laughed out loud. Rhodes went straight ahead while Diana went right and she shimmied up a rope that led to the floor of the second story.

Diana ran through the dimly lit corridors of the second floor, scanning and analyzing each pathway she took to find the fastest way out when she tripped. Yes, tripped. She tripped over what looked like to her a pair of motorized wings, no bigger than a little kid's backpack.

"I wonder who these belong to?" she murmured. She decided to carry it along with her in case it would be of any use and returned to finding a safe route outside from the middle of the building.

Rhodes was following what he believed to be the hoodie-wearing crook. Then he couldn't believe his eyes, now there were two of them! He thought to himself that he would ask Jetix for a vacation after this, he really needed one.

"Hey, you two! Hold it right there!"he yelled at the cons, "Put your hands where I can see them!"

The one on the right whispered something to the one on the left; he nodded and ran off to a rope dangling down. The one that didn't run spoke to Rhodes,

"Where's the kid? Ran off to mommy?"

Rhodes got angry at this remark to his principle, "You wish, you lowlife convict!" He yelled at him, "It's thanks to her that you were put behind bars, protecting innocent people from getting hurt! Now take off thed hood and show me your face!" The convict did what he was told; Rhodes looked surprised at him. "Hey! You're not Drake!"

'Drake' smirked at him, "Of course I'm not 'Drake' you simpleton. I'm his cousin, Derek Damion." He paused to look at the shocked face of Rhodes and continued, "If you think you're shocked now, just wait until Drake finds her. I suggest that you get going if you value her life."

Now what was Rhodes going to do? Whoever this guy was, he was dangerous and deadly. On the other hand, if he didn't get to Diana in time, then what? But then again, even if Drake does get to her, she'll kick his butt anyway. And besides, if he didn't finish the job, Diana would cause him pain in so many ways. He shuddered at the last time he didn't finish the capture. He made his decision.

Diana kept running and for some reason, couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was following her. She didn't feel this way when she first got here, so why now? Then she heard a faint moaning noise coming from the left of her, it sounded like a female. She crept to the source of the noise and saw inside a cage with a lock on the front with a face-like carving on it,an auburn haired and hazel eyed person inside.

"H-Hello? Are you awake?" She timidly asked the small person. She got a groan as her response. Diana felt bad and tried to pick the lock of the cage, only to find absolutely no keyholes anywhere on the lock. Then the person awoke with a jolt and frantically looked around.

"Where am I?" She turned to Diana, "And who are you? Keeping me locked up in here! And another thing--"

"Slow down. I didn't lock you in here." Diana calmly replied and continued, "What's your name?" The little person looked and the lock, then it started to glow and a wicked face appeared on it.

It started to speak, "Ha! Ha! Ha! Foolish mortal! In order for the fairy to be freed you must tell me my name!"

Diana raised an eyebrow and said to the lock, "A fairy?"

The stranger inside the cage sighed; she had to tell this girl about the People since the big-mouthed lock said she was a fairy, after she got out of this cage of course. But she couldn't see how this mere human could figure out her name; she had to be as smart as Artemis Fowl to figure it out.

So she opened her mouth to tell the girl that she doesn't have to agree with the stupid lock when the girl said, "All right, I'll guess. How would you like to make things a little more interesting?"

"I'm listening." The lock replied.

The black haired, green eyed girl said to the lock, "We each get three questions, and after each question, I will guess at your name, and you guess what is in my sling. I cannot ask you your name, and you cannot ask what is in my sling." She gestured at the sling around her waist."I have three things in there. If you guess even one of them before I guess your name, I will join the'fairy' in the cage; but, if I guess your name before that, you let the fairy go free."

The fairy in the cage widened her eyes with a mix of emotions, this stranger, whom she doesn't even know, was willing to sacrifice herself, just to get her out of the cage.

The lock looked amused, "Ha! Very well child! I already have a feeling of what is in your sling anyway, but being the kind and generous soul I am, you can go first."

Diana smiled slightly and winked at the fairy. She asked the lock, "What's her name?"

"You can't ask that!" The lock yelled.

"Go on,"Diana smiled. She knew she had the lock beat, right there and then. "You have to tell me her name."

The lock grumbled. "Her name is Holly," it said.

"Then, your name is Holly, isn't it?"Diana asked.

Again, the lock grumbled, and then made a loud click. The door swung open and the surprised fairy stumbled out of the cage.

"Thanks!" she said, hugging Diana tightly. "But, how did you know?"

"When I asked your name, you did not answer, but looked at the lock. When you said the lock had a name, I knew the spell must have used your own name to keep you inside."

"You're asmart kid... uh..."

Diana smirked at Holly, "It's Diana, and I'm not just smart, Holly, a genius."

Then Holly started to laugh, "Somebody I know almost said those exact words to me!"

Then an unexpected voice penetrated their joyous moment, "How touching.And I thought I had to look for you."

Both Holly and Diana turned around and shouted, "YOU!"


	6. Catching the Convicts

Surprise, surprise, it was the convict.

Diana turned to Holly, "You know him?"

Holly turned to her, "Do you?"

"He's the guy that escaped a few hours ago." She told the LEP officer.

In turn, she looked surprised. "Why are you here anyway? I know for a fact that this isn't where normal teenage girls hang out on a Saturday night."

"Well Holly, I am not like those other teenagers. I have a job to do."

"What kind of job can a Mud Girl do?"

Drake cleared his throat, "I would love to hear your life story ladies, but I have a job to do as well."

Then he charged toward the both of them. Holly swerved out of the way, tumbling into a pile of boxes; while Diana cartwheeled out of his path, picking up the medium-sized, heavy lock in the process. She turned once again to face Drake, who decided to charge at her again. Big mistake. She gripped the lock in her right hand, waited for the right moment. And when he was right in her arm's reach…**BAM!** The next thing you know, the con is out cold, spread-eagle on the ground.

Diana smirked, "Looks like you didn't do your job very well, did you Mr. Damion."

She just got a defeated groan as her response.

Holly looked at her, with both amazement and relief in her expression. "That…was…awesome! No Mud Girl, well, maybe one, I know would have the courage and not to mention the strength to do that!"

"Yeah…I know. Oh, I almost forgot."

Diana went to the passed out convict on the floor. She checked for the identification, Cross-shaped birthmark on his left ear and…. She grabbed his right arm, turning it over, and 'thunderbolt-shaped burnmark on the bottom of his right wrist. He's the one.

"Diana?" Holly asked interrupting her thoughts.

"Hmmm?"

"Did you happen to find a pair of wings nearby?"

Diana turned to look at the elf, "Why? Are they yours?"

"Yeah, I think what's-his-name," She referred to the fainted Drake, "knocked me out and then put me in that dumb cage."

"Yeah, I have them, they're in my bag. Who ever made these must very smart. I don't remember the last time I've seen something so very well manufactured."

"He's a very smart ass, let me tell you." Holly muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Anyway, can you give me back my wings so I can find my escaped convict?"

"Sure, catch!" And Diana threw the set of dragonfly wings to her.

"By the way," Holly began, "You never did tell me what your 'job' was."

Diana smirked at the LEP captain, "You never told me what exactly you were as well, sister."

Holly laughed, "All right. All right." So Holly told her about the People and LEP, but not about her adventures with Artemis, she didn't want Diana to get involved.

"And that's basically what we do at LEP."

Diana had an unusually calm and soft of tranquil look on her face,this was one expression that Holly was not accustomed to seeing.

"Cool. Can we tell my friend?"

"Is he like a bodyguard to you?"

"Well he is my bodyguard, but I think of him as my adopted and overprotective big brother... So can we tell him? Please?"

And with all of her might, Diana gave Holly the cutest look that she could. Holly tried to ignore it, but she gave in.

She answered Diana like how a mother would answer her little daughter. "All right, we can tell him."

"Yay!" Diana said as she hugged the little fairy.

How was she going to tell Foaly, Commander Root, and maybe, just possibly Artemis, that she told this teenage Mud Girl, that she had just met a little under 30 minutes ago, the existence of the People. Was she sure that she could trust Diana? Holly was sure, and for some reason, they would understand why she had to tell Diana.

"Come on Diana; let's go help your big friend."

"Okay."

* * *

And together, they ran according to the directions Diana had planned out so far.

Rhodes was breathing heavily, he had just knocked out Derek with his Sig Sauer Mosquito and was proceeding to tie him up went he heard rapid footsteps,one familiar pair belonging to his young principle and the other pair...he didn't know;at least not yet he didn't.


	7. Considering Feelings

I'm really sorry that Artemis wasn't in the last couple of chappies; I just didn't know where his could have fit in. So I decided to put him in _this_ one and show what he thinks of Diana so far. He will be out of character for this chapter, trust me. But he'll be back to that criminal mastermind we've all come to know and love. . Enjoy &R&R! And sorry it's so short!

* * *

**9:25 pm, Downtown Dublin, Farrow Street**

Rhodes was tying up Derek for Holly while she and Diana explained to Rhodes everything that had happened. And in turn, Diana and Rhodes told Holly what they were doing here on a Saturday night.

"So GUN is like a human version of LEP?" Holly said to the both of them.

They both looked at each other, Diana spoke first,

"I guess so, I mean it has almost everything you told us about:" She counted off her fingers as she said each one, "they're both sort of a secret from the public, a superior that like to yell, a wisecrack guy that pokes fun at his partner, and there's only one kick-butt attitude female member on the team."

"You're right Diana. Can you two help me get him to Tara?"

"Sure." They both answered right away. But then Diana's mobile phone rang,the same tune that played for the only other call she had that night.

* * *

**Same Time, Artemis' Study, Fowl Manor**

When Diana came downstairs maybe two hours ago, Artemis _had_ expected her to be wearing a suit or something more business-like, but instead she came down in a black t-shirt that said, **"Don't Shoot Because You Hate Me, Shoot Me Because I'm Prettier Than You."**paired with faded jeans with a white sweater tied around her waist, along with a purple Coach sling and black, sparkly what he believed they were called 'etines' or something like that.

She noticed that Artemis was staring and started to blush. And for some odd reason, he could feel his face turning red as well, so he quickly turned away. He caught Butler's eye and he smirked,making Artemis glare at him. After she and Rhodes had left, his parents and her parents decided to catch up, leaving Juliet, Butler, and himself alone in the dining room. That's when Juliet did what she does best, annoy him.

"What do you think of that Diana girl so far, Arty?"

"Don't call me Arty, Juliet." She sighed,

"Fine then. What do you think of that Diana girl so far, _Artemis_?"

"She's...nice and different."

"Different? Different how?"Butler asked.

Artemis just shrugged and simply said, "She intrigues me."

"Awwww! Arty likes her!"

"Don't call me Arty, Juliet, and I do not _like_ her!" He exclaimed, looking at the side to hide his red face.

"Then if you don't like her, why won't you look us in the eyes without your face turning even _redder_."

"Juliet, stop it."

"But Dom--'

"Stop it."

"I'm going upstairs to my study--"

"Artemis, its only 7:30."

"I know old friend, but please,don't disturb me."

Juliet and Butler both looked at each other, but answered him nonetheless, "All right."

Now here he was, in his study, finding everything he can about Diana Chase. He had been at it for almost two hours. He leaned back in his black office chair, staring at the ceiling.

_Why?_ He thought to himself, _Why do I want to know everything about her. Do I like her?_

That was the second time that thought had crossed his mind, and now, he was starting to consider it.


	8. First School Morning

**Just a quick note to EVERY ONE of my reviewers. I don't mind if you flame on my stories, but could you please tell me over a PM? I feel worried that people won't read my stories if they read the reviews. And I'm sorry if Diana's acting like a Sue, but it's been over a year since I wrote this and I haven't looked back at it since. But "Assassin's Game" is new. And if anyone had any ideas to save AG from sounding non-sueish, that would be great! **

* * *

**10:00 pm, E1 Chute, Tara**

Diana was laying down on the grass looking at the starry night sky, trying to make pictures and constellations with the stars. Rhodes was spotting for anything that might come to harm his principle. And Holly was _trying_ to wait patiently for her ride back to Haven. Why? Because the dumb Retrieval team was supposed to be at E1 15 minutes ago. They didn't have anything else to do because they had already dropped Drake off at GUN awhile ago.

"Holly?" Diana asked.

"Yes, Diana?"

"Have you always wanted to be an LEP officer?"

"Yes. Because my father was one and I wanted to be just like him. What about you? Why did you become a GUN agent?"

Diana smiled, "Actually, you tell you the truth Holly, I never thought about joining. I joined because they needed me."

"Who?" Rhodes answered the elf this time.

"Our best friends, Jetix and Sparks; the two guys we told you about."

"What do they look like?"

"Here I'll show you."

Diana pulled out her cell phone and showed her a picture of four people, three guys standing up and a girl that looked a couple years younger than the guys, kneeling in front of the tallest one there.

"As you can guess," Diana said, "the girl in the picture is yours truly, the guy I'm in front of is Rhodes, the one on the left of him is Sparks, and the one on the right is Jetix; he's the commander's adoptive son. That makes him second-in-command."

To Holly, the picture of the co-commander looked oddly familiar, but she didn't where she had seen it before.

"Holly!" a voice shouted.

All three of the people waiting turned to find the source of the voice, but Holly was the only one who recognized the person.

"Trouble! Finally! I thought that I had to wait for the next shuttle to take this guy down."

"Oh, come on, we didn't make you wait too long. Hey," He noticed Diana and Rhodes, "Why were you waiting with a Mud Man and Girl?"

"Trouble, the girl saved my life, and the big guy brought the convict here to save me the time and effort."

"You realize that you'll get a full yelling when you get back the Police Plaza right?"

"Yeah. I know."

"Uh, excuse me?" Diana said timidly, "My name is Diana and this is my bodyguard Rhodes and if you don't mind Mr.-uh-Trouble. I have to get home; my curfew is at 11:00 tonight."

Trouble smiled at the young girl, "Of course Mud-I mean-Diana; you and your friend," He gulped in fear of his size, "Rhodes can go, but I need you to promise Holly and I something."

"Sure what is it?"

Holly spoke this time, "You and Rhodes need the promise that you will never, _ever_, tell anybody about us for as long as you live, understand?"

Both Diana and Rhodes nodded in agreement. Trouble and Holly turned to leave when the heard the youth ask them a question that they may not be able to answer,

"Will we ever see you again?" Holly bit her lip; she didn't want to tell her that she may not see her again, so she carefully chose her words.

"We'll see each other someday soon, I promise." When she said, "I promise." Trouble elbowed her hard and gave her a troubled glance. (Excuse the pun.)

Diana smiled brightly at them at gave them a cheerful wave, while Rhodes gave them friendly nod. Then they went to the Bentley and Rhodes drove back while Diana texted Jetix to make sure that he got the convict on time. That's why he called 45 minutes earlier that night. They arrived at Fowl Manor ten minutes before her curfew. Rhodes looked over to the passenger seat and saw his little charge sleeping peacefully. So he brought her inside _without_any interrogation from neither the Fowls, the Chases, nor Butler. Along the way he asked Juliet to change her into her PJs.

**6:30 am, Diana's Room, Fowl Manor**

Diana woke up to her alarm clock; so she did her normal morning routine excluding changing into her school uniform (It's only 6:45 for goodness sake!), which took about 15 minutes. She decided to check and see if Artemis was awake yet. She found his room right across from hers with a name plate on it saying 'Artemis' and she found a name plate on her door with her name as well. Diana knocked on Artemis' door and she heard a faint but clear, "Enter.", so she did.

"Good morning Artemis."

"Good morning Diana, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah." She noticed that his laptop was on, "What are you working on this early in the morning? School doesn't start until nine."

He just shrugged, "I just find the so-called school assignments not that difficult _or_interesting."

"I know!" Diana said with a excited tone, "Finally, somebody who doesn't think school is a challenge! Absolutely none of the teachers could teach me what I already know."

Artemis smirked at this, "Really, then why are you going to St. Bartelby's?"

"Well, first of all, this is my first time to not go to an all girls school and my mom said that St. Bartelby's is supposedly is the best school in all of Dublin. And I don't want to make her upset so I decided to go to St. Bartelby's."

He nodded, "I see. Well Diana, who will be your homeroom teacher?"

"I think a Mr. Cartenell?"

"He's my teacher as well."

"Is he nice?"

"He is, but he gives too many easy assignments, the hardest one was to write a 750 word essay on the history of Dublin. It took me 10 minutes."

"I guess that's a _little_ more challenging."

"Well, breakfast should be starting about now, shall I escort you downstairs?"

"That would be nice Artemis, but I have to change into my uniform. I'll see you when I get downstairs though, thanks anyway."

Then she went back across the hallway to change, so he decided to change as well. Artemis was a little disappointed when Diana turned down his offer, but of course he didn't show it. Especially right after he had buttoned the last button, Butler came in.

"What did you and Diana talk about Artemis?"

"Just how St. Bartelby's educating system isn't that challenging."

"And?"

"That's all."

Butler shrugged, "All right, come on, everybody's downstairs for breakfast."

Artemis sighed, "Coming."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing old friend, let's go."

When they got downstairs to the dining room and sat down, Rhodes, Diana's parents, and his own parents were there, but Diana was nowhere to be seen. Until Artemis heard footsteps coming down to the dining room. He turned around and saw her in a short-sleeved white blouse and a mid-thigh length plaid skirt along with the school sweater tied around her waist. It was strange for him that even though he tried very hard to _not_ look at her, he eyes kept lingering back to her. And to make matters worse, she was sitting right across from him! Eight words kept repeating themselves inside his head all through breakfast, _I will find a way to stop puberty._

Just after they had all finished breakfast, Diana's and Artemis' parents had some news to share.

"Kids?" Mrs. Fowl started, "The others and myself will be taking the Fowl Bentley to work today." (I know that they don't actually work, but in my story, they do, everyday except the weekends and holidays.)

Artemis spoke to his parent, "Why are you telling us this Mother?"

She bit her lip, "Well, Bella and I discussed this last night and we decided that you and Diana will carpool for school this year."

She immediately saw the reaction, Artemis' face to his dismay, was turning red again and Diana looked upon the ground fidgeting with her fingers. But since they weren't opposing to her decision, it would be permanent, and she smiled.

"Well, have a nice day at school children."

Angeline Fowl kissed her son's head and gave a friendly hug to Diana. Her husband followed, but Diana's parents did that a little later with a little surprise included.

Rhodes went outside to warm up the car, it was mid-fall there, and Butler took his charge's and his friend's charge's backpacks and put them in the trunk. Diana and Artemis were chatting on how useless this first day was going to be until their parents came downstairs all dressed up for work with Diana's mother holding something behind her back.

"Excited about your first day honey?"

"I guess." She replied to her mother. Bella smiled at her daughter and gave wink to her husband.

"Well, you two need to get going." Mrs. Fowl interrupted.

"All right Mother." Artemis said as he got up from his seat, "Come on Diana, let's go."

He extended his hand to her while she gave a little curtsey, smirking at him and him at her, and grasping it. The Chases and the Fowls smiled at each other, following their flesh and blood to the door. But before they got to the door, Bella Chase said to the children,

"Could you turn around for a moment?"

And when they did, she pulled out a camera from behind her back and took a snapshot of them holding hands. Once the flash was gone from their eyes they both turned beet red, but still holding hands!

"MOM!" Diana exclaimed with embarrassment, "I told you absolutely **no** pictures here!"

She merely chuckled at her daughter, "I'm sorry love, but you two so are so cute together!"

"And it was a perfect picture moment!" Angeline Fowl added to it.

Her face still red, Diana pulled the still flushed Artemis out the door, and before the manservants could utter a word, she sharply said,

"Let's go, _now_."


	9. A Day to Remember

**8:30 AM, Inside Chase Bentley, Outside St. Bartelby's**

Once Diana and Artemis got over their embarrassing moment, Artemis started to tell Diana about the type of assignments Mr. Cartenell gives them.

"They are all simple and once you can figure out the pattern of assignments he does in that first week, you'll figure it out for the entire year."

"Hmmm, interesting."

"Hey Artemis, Lady D. We're here."

"Okay cool. Rhodes, get into character."

He just nodded in response. Artemis raised an eyebrow at her.

"Character?"

"As you must know, Bartelby's isn't really that big on security. But only family members or other students are allowed inside the premises of the school."

"I see. Go on."

"So...I have Rhodes be my 'uncle' so he can do a security check; I manage, but Rhodes or should I say 'Uncle Martin' does the check anyway. "

"That's brilliant." But this response did not come from the young Fowl heir, instead, it came from his loyal manservant.

"Yeah, she knows." Rhodes said smirking at his 'niece'. He was wearing a light blue button-down shirt paired with khaki pants with brown loafers. "Come on, we've been chatting for five minutes and I need to do that check before you two go inside."

Diana just rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Come on Artemis," she said turning to him, "Let's wait outside so Rhodes and Butler can do the check."

He looked at Butler and Rhodes, then Diana, "All right, let's go."

The two students got out of the Bentley and went to the steps leading up to their school and waited.

* * *

**Same Time, Ops Booth, Police Plaza**

Foaly was madly typing away on his beloved computer system when suddenly...**_the screen went black!_** And being the technology attached centaur he is, well, he started to freak out.

"My screen went black! My equipment is not like that caveman crud the Mud Men have! Mine is state-of-the-art, brand new--"

The reason he stopped in the middle of his ranting was that a certain female elf came in and slapped on the cheek, hard. He recovered from the shock or slap rather.

"Thank you, I needed that."

Holly smiled proudly, "Glad to help out Foaly. What's wrong anyway?"

"The screen turned black."

"Does 'black' mean very dark and lifeless or does it mean having a very mad centaur and a pixie with a look in his eyes that can only express pure evil?"

"Holly, of course it means--wait, what?"

Foaly turned his head to look at his once dark screen and sure enough, there was an angry centaur on the screen along with an evil pixie on his back. Foaly spoke to the two fairies on his computer.

"Who are you two?"

The pixie spoke, "Foaly, Foaly, Foaly, don't you remember me when my dear little sister introduced us at the last Science Convention she competed in?"

The LEP tech widened his eyes, "Diamond?" He got a chuckle as his response. "But then, who this?" Pointing to the other centaur.

The pixie known as Diamond Koboi merely chuckled and patted his companion's head, "This is my friend, Brunswick Mahogany." Now he addressed his friend, "Brunswick, meet the object of your affliction, Foaly."

He gave a glare that gave an eerie chill up Holly's and Foaly's spines.

"I don't know him, Koboi."

"Oh, but I think you do. Think back, way before you met my sister and remember."

Foaly's eyes grew wide with rememberance.

"You have two weeks to give me the completed Crown of Memories, Foaly. Or kiss your newest blueprints good bye!" Diamond started out with a dark chuckle which grew into an evil laugh. Brunswick just smirked evilly. Then the screen once again turned black.

Holly looked bewildered, "Who the _hell _were they? And what's the Crown of Memories?"

Foaly turned to his friend and said, "I'll explain later, but right now, I need to go for a walk. I'll see you later Holly."

So he left his friend and went outside to think about what the two fairies had just said.

* * *

**2:45 pm, St. Bartelby's, Main Hallway**

Diana and Artemis had just finished their last class and Artemis was at Diana's locker _trying _to talk to have a civil conversion with her.

"So what should we do for our psychology project?"

"I don't know, why don't we just use psychology as our topic?" The young girl asked.

"You mean like explain just what psychology is and how it intertwines with the human mind?"

"Exactly, shall we work on it when we get home? We obviously don't have any homework and I have this really good idea for--"

But Diana was interrupted by yet_ another_ idiot jock who think that he has a chance with her, well, that's Artemis thought anyway. What may be the 50th jock that came and said the same seven dreaded words to her.

"Want to hang out after school, babe?"

For a response, Diana turned to face the jock and said the golden word,

"No."

But this guy wasn't going to take no for an answer. He stuck his arm out and created a barrier between Diana and Artemis. He smiled that smile that most teenage girls would goes nuts for, but Diana just rolled her eyes.

"Apparently you don't know who I am, babe."

Diana responded to the stubborn boy with breaks inbetween each word, "Read my lips: I don't give a d." She smirked at the stunned jockey.

Artemis gave a barely audible chuckle and said to the jock, "Stanley, if you would be so kind as to remove your unsightly appendage from our faces, Diana and I can get going."

Amazingly, Stanley did what he said still with that shocked look and walked away. Diana smiled at Artemis,

"Thanks for that."

"I think your--ahem--colorful choice of words did that."

"Still, thanks though."

"Your welcome. Well, with that said, Lady Chase, would you like to accompany me to En Fin? It has very good seafood."

She giggled, "Will you be paying?"

He smirked, "Yes, I will be paying."

"I would be happy to accept your invitation Master Fowl. But I would have to contact my parents and Rhodes of course."

"Very well. Shall we head outside?"

"We shall."

When they got outside, they met their bodyguards and got this in the Fowl Bentley.

"Where to Artemis?"

"En Fin please, Butler."

Rhodes smiled at the two in the backseat of the car, "Awwww, you two going out on a date?"

For the second time in that day, Artemis and Diana turned as red as a tomato as they both answered in a clear and loud voice,

"NO!"

Rhodes just laughed and Butler couldn't help but surpress a grin and let a little chuckle slip out.

* * *

**3:45 pm, En Fin Seafood Restaurant, London**

"Here we are sir and ma'am."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny Butler." Diana retorted.

Butler just smirked, "You want us to wait in the car?"

"That would be nice Butler, thank you." His charge said to him.

Once they got out of the car, Artemis got them a table but his cell phone rang.

"I'll be right back, Diana. I need to answer this."

"Sure, want do you want?"

"Anything you order in fine."

"Cool. Waiter?" She aaid, referring to the waiter there.

"Yes, madam, may I help you?"

"I would like to order now."

But that's all Artemis heard before he slipped into the back of the restaurant.

"Holly? What is it? I'm in the middle of a--a--"

For some reason, he couldn't think of a word to say so that Holly--or Foaly for that matter--wouldn't question him as to why he's here with a girl. _He_ didn't even know.

"You're in the middle of a what Fowl? A date?" Holly snickered.

"No! I'm in the middle of a luncheon with--with a cilent."

"Okay, whatever. Anyway, new villains delivered a message to Foaly earlier today."

"Who are our new adversaries this time? And what was the message?"

"A pixie, the older brother of Opal Koboi and Brunswick Mahogany, a centaur. The message was that Foaly has two weeks to bring a Crown of Memory thing or something like that."

"All right, when shall I come down to--"

"Sorry Artemis, you can't come down. Only if he threatened to destroy Haven or expose the People is when you're allowed down here."

He sighed, "Very well, where are we going to meet?"

"How 'bout your place?"

"No!"

"Why? Don't want me walking in on your girlfriend and you making out."

"I do not have a girlfriend!" Artemis said hotly and he said this particularly loud.

"Pfft. Whatever, so your place?"

"I'll try and get her out of the house."

"Woah! Woah! I was just kidding about the girlfriend thing Artemis! You really have have one?!" Holly said in half-disbelief, half-excitement.

"No! She's just staying over for the school year!"

"So what's her name?"

"Diana."

"Does she have a long shoulder length black hair and vivid emerald green eyes."

"Holly, how do you know."

"She saved me last night, from being trapped inside a cage."

"She works at a company Holly, she's not some kind of secret agent."

"Well apparently you don't know her that well."

"I'll talk with her later."

"Later, good luck with your date!" Holly said tauntingly.

"Holly, I--" But the line went dead.

He returned to the table where Diana was sitting. Boy, did he have an interesting topic for them to talk about. And it wasn't about their psychology project.


	10. Flashback

Artemis walked back to where Diana was sitting and to his surprise, he saw mackerel a la carte on the table.

"You got mackerel a la carte?"

"Why don't you like fish?"

"I like it it's just that..."

"You didn't think that I would even know what 'a la carte' means right?"

"Uhhh..."

"I accept your apology Artemis; now hurry up and sit down! I'm staving!"

As Artemis sat down in front of Diana, he chuckled at how quickly she could change the subject.

"Diana, did you happen to save a friend of mine named Holly?"

Immediately she dropped her fork along with the mackerel on it.

"Maybe...where are you going with this?"

"You know that she's not human right?"

"Yes. Is this going to be a game of 20 Questions or are you going to get to the point?"

He licked his lips, "The point is, you're not to know about them. Unless Holly trusts you of course."

"I saved her decaying inside a cage for the rest of her fairy life. I think she might trust me." Diana said bluntly.

Artemis closed his eyes and sighed, when he got home, he would figure out how Diana could something so simple, so complex. He opened his mouth to say something, but Diana beat him to it.

"So what you're trying to tell me is that I need to explain some things about me huh?"

"Exactly."

For the first time since they arrived in London, she smiled. Artemis almost smiled but he caught himself.

"Maybe I can meet the rest of your fairy friends and I can tell all of you about myself?"

"That will be fine. Shall we head back to Fowl Manor?"

"That would be nice." Diana called for the waiter, Artemis payed while Diana called Rhodes to tell Butler to come and pick them up from En Fin.

* * *

**5:00 pm, Dublin, Almost to Fowl Manor**

In the Fowl Bentley, Rhodes was driving this time since Butler didn't really want to drive this time and their charges were in the back and Diana was just about to tell the two, minus Rhodes, about her life.

"So Artemis told me that you know about the People."

"Hey B-Man, I do too."

"And you Rhodes."

"But what I am really interested in Diana, is the fact that Holly told me that you are a secret agent of some sort." Artemis said.

Rhodes couldn't help but laugh, "Tell them how we got recruited for GUN. I think it was on one of your heists."

Butler and Artemis had an intrigued look on their faces and they spoke simultaneously. "Heists?"

"Yes, boys, heists."

"As in thieving heists?"

"Yes Artemis."

Rhodes added, "And believe it or not, but Lady D was exactly like you when she 12 Artemis. Except that she liked to use a more 'hands-on' approach."

"Yes, well, anyway, it all started like this."

* * *

**_12:00 am, the Rooftop Dunsworth Museum of Fine Arts, Ireland, 2 years ago_**

_"Now, did you attach my suspension cable?" A little 12 year-old Diana asked._

_"Yep. Do you have your mini-mike on?" A 35 year-old Rhodes asked back._

_"Check. Now don't forget the signal."_

_"Don't worry, I won't Lady Diana."_

_The little Diana sighed and said,"I told you, call me Lady D. It sounds a whole lot cooler."_

_"Right." "_

_All right, lower me down."_

_She had heard of a rare, Egyptian necklace that had once belonged to the imfamous Queen Cleopatra of the Nile being on display here at the Dunsworth Museum. But what she didn't know was that someone–or some people–were after it as well. Anyway, when Diana hit the floor, she unattached herself from the cable and made a sort of loopy thing that she could have stuck her foot in if she needed to make a quick getaway._

_In the mini-mike she reported to the two-year-younger Rhodes, "I'm in."_

_"Alright, do you have the blueprints memorized?"_

_"Who do you think you're talking to?"_

_He chuckled, "Sorry. I just want you to not spring any booby traps; you remember what happended last time don't you?"_

_She rolled her green eyes. "I remember. Anyway, I'll check back once I get to the room."_

_"Copy that."_

_When she got to the hallway where the room was, she made the criss-crossing green lasers appear by using a can of trapped cigarette smoke. Quickly, Diana formulated a way to get through. Heh-heh. Too easy. And with cat-like quickness and agility, she got to the display room. She repeated the process and got to the necklace with ease. Since Rhodes graduated from Madame Ko's and is giving her lessons, she just sliced the glass open with a little help from a blade hidden in her glove. She's wearing a full-body black cat suit, with gloves, black boots, along with a beautiful black masquerade mask and her hair, which reached to her mid-back, is tied up in a tight, high bun._

_"Hello!"_

_Then all of a sudden, she heard a male voice._

_"Hold it right there, Masqueraine."_

_Then a boy who looked no older than 15 stepped out of the shadows and he had copper bronze colored hair and he had the same colored eyes._

_"Who are you?"_

_"My name is Jetix and I work for GUN."_

_"You're not gonna arrest me are you?"_

_"Actually my dear, quite the contrary, I would like to recruit you for GUN."_

_"That secret government military organization? Why?"_

_"And how do you know it's a military organization?"_

_The little thief shrrugged, "I like to keep a tab on people like you, Mr. Jetix."_

_"Why? And Jetix is just fine. Anyway, we need you're abilities to do undercover work and maybe then you could start working in the field."_

_"And if I say no?"_

_"You say no and I'll exposed you to your family."_

_"Hmmmm. All right, whatever."_

_"Great. Let's–"_

_"Not so fast." The little thief smiled slyly at recruiter, "I want this necklace as payment for my services."_

_"No, no, no, no, no. You don't understand. I want to recruit you as a special agent permanently, not just for one time."_

_"Oh, I totally understand that. But I want this necklace. I am not going to let all this hard work go to waste."_

_He sighed, "All right. You can keep the necklace."_

_"Yay!"_

_"Lady D. What's going on down there?"_

_"Who's that?" a confused Jetix asked._

_"My bodyguard, Rhodes. Rhodes say 'hi.'"_

_"Uh, hi?"_

_"Hey. I'm Jetix." Now turning his attention to the thief, "Uhhhhh–"_

_"Diana."_

_"Diana, how did you get here anyway?"_

_"I would like to ask you that same question."_

_"That's a secret."_

_"Fine."_

_"Hey, how old did you say you were?"_

_"I didn't. I'm 12 turning 13 on January 9th."_

_"I knew you were young, but not that young."_

_"Thank you. Now we can go."_

_When they got to the escape rope, he went on first and he held her (not that way!) while she yanked the rope, signaling Rhodes to pull both of them up. Jetix explained every to him._

_"I don't know. What will her parents say? They don't even know that she's Masqueraine, let alone a secret agent." Rhodes said hesitantly._

_"Don't worry, I have the perfect cover."_

_So, to make this short sweet and to the point, Jetix went back with her and Rhodes back home to Chase Manor. Diana introduced him to her loving parents (she took of the cat suit of course) and he took them into a separate room. When they came out, her parents bade their good byes and Diana showed him out._

_"Here are the directions, show up tomorrow at 10:30 sharp."_

_"Got it. Can Rhodes come too?"_

_"Of course. Your parents told me that he's never been far from you since birth."_

_"You're right about that."_

_They both laughed._

_"See you tomorrow." Jetix said._

_"Yeah, see you." She responded._

* * *

"So, how did you become an agent exactly?" Artemis asked, obviously interested.

"That dear Artemis stays a secret. But not for long." Diana quietly added this last part to herself.

"Well, that took up almost 15 minutes and we still have another half-hour to go!" Rhodes said cheerfully

Everybody groaned.

He rolled his eyes, "Well, you guys get to sleep for awhile."

His charge sighed, "I guess that's true, but I don't have anything comfy to lean on."

Butler mouth something to Artemis and he turned red, _again_, but nodded and he kept his cool exterior, but he was a nervous wreck on the inside.

"You can lean on my shoulder if you want Diana."

"R-Really?" She let out a big yawn which Artemis found quite appealing and she continued. "I don't want to be a burden--"

"Really, it's fine."

"Well, if you insist."

So she leaned her head upon his shoulder with a little pink tinge on her face and closed her eyes. Artemis without looking at them, pressed the button to put the screen up. The last he saw of his bodyguard was a sly smirk, the same kind he did when he first met Diana. Hesitantly, he rested his head on top of her head and he sniffed the aroma wafting from her long raven tresses. _Lavender, so soothing...so calming...it...fits...her._ That was his last thought before he was lost in a sea of traquility.


	11. A Quick Kidnapping

**10:00 am, Lobby, GUN HQ**

The next morning after endless questions at breakfast, Diana, Artemis, Butler and Rhodes stepped inside the building that would soon be the scene of a crime.

"I'm telling you now, my friend Jonathan's--call him Jetix--father, Dominic Windsor will have me out of here in a heartbeat if he finds out about this!"

Artemis glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "I just want to see how you take of things."

"Why?"

"No reason."

Just as she was about to make a smart remark, Butler intervened, "So Diana, how long have you been working here?"

Rhodes came up and elbowed him, "I work here too. Remember?"

"Oh, really? And what exactly do you do here?"

He grinned which made him look like a scheming wolf, "I scare the ones that refuse listen."

Diana laughed, "Which is all of them!"

"Which make me a wealthy man... of course after I get my paycheck which I_ haven't_ got yet." He made a little teasing glare at her charge.

She glared back, "I told you, the check bounced!"

Rhodes rolled his eyes, "Uh-huh. Turn here."

Artemis' face remained emotionless but inside he was astonished at the relationship between them.

_They're like siblings, even though they have 20 years between them, but they still have the happiness and carefree air around then nonetheless._ He glanced at Butler,_ If only my father... _He removed that thought from his mind and observed the change between the two hallways.

The corridor that they were previously on were white walled, but the new hall was a metaillic grey, that had a line of lights that were sound activated, which led them to a door marked, 'Control'.

"Here we are." the lone female said, "Home sweet home."

She opened the door and everybody's reaction mainly was, _What the hell happened in here?! _

**10:15 am, Ops Booth, Police Plaza**

The auburn haired elf burst into the room with a look that could only describe panic.

"Are you serious?!"

"Unfortunately, yes." the LEP tech repiled, "Both Diamond and Brunswick are on the surface. But I don't know why they have targeted this particular Mud Man."

A human face appeared onto the ceiling high screen, she gasped.

* * *

**Same Time, Surveillance Control, GUN HQ**

Artemis whispered to Rhodes, "Who is that?" He motioned to the unconscious guy on the floor surrounded by the broken furniture, scattered electronics, and strewn weapons.

"That's Bryan Grant, he's our techie for our little group. We call him, Sparks"

Diana immediately rushed over to the unconscious Sparks but she had to fight her way through all of the clutter that looked like they were delivered by truck from the dump.

She knelt by him trying to slap him up, "Sparks, Sparks! Wake up!"

The other male companions made their way across the room to Diana.

Rhodes continued, "Let me try."

He whispered something into his ear and Sparks shot up with an ecstatic look on his face.

"Is he really gone?!"

Diana smirked knowing what he meant, "Unfortunately Iron Lung's still alive, Rhodes just said that to get you up."

"Oh." He looked to Artemis and Butler, "And who are they."

Diana spoke up, "They were only suppose to be here for a quick peek before Jetix's dad gets here for inspection. This is Artemis and Butler." She pointed to each one of them in turn.

He nodded in acknowledgement, "What's up? I'm Sparks."

Artemis cleared his throat, "What happened in here, Sparks?"

"Yeah, and where's Jetix?" Diana asked him.

Sparks inhaled, than exhaled, "You guys might want to sit down."

Everybody found something stable to sit on.

"Okay, me and Jetix were working in here like usual right? Then out of nowhere, some horse guy thing comes bursting into the room--that's not an easy feat, there'a all of the security cameras, ID access cards, steel-enforced doors, and stuff--and there's what looked like a little kid riding on its back. Then the horse guy charges into the wall that holds all of our weapons and I think the kid stuffed some into a bag. After that the horse guy rams into me and I thought that would knock Jetix out too, but..."

"What did they do to Jetix?" Diana asked the storyteller.

Sparks looked at all of them, took a deep breath and said the three words he dreaded, "They took Jetix."

Her eyes bulged, she went cold and spoke in a whisper, "What?"

Rhodes was standing behind her with a blank look on his face, "It sounds like some fairy tale kidnapping gone wrong in reality."

Sparks nodded sullenly, "I know."

Butler looked at Artemis who caught his gaze. Those three had no idea.

What did you think? Anything I can do to make it better? If you're gonna flame, say it in a dignified way. By the way, Brunswick and Diamond were briefly mentioned in Chp 9.


	12. The Rest of the Gang

A meeting was arranged in Fowl Manor to help with the strange kidnapping. A skeptical Sparks met them outside of GUN HQ while Diana told him about how she met Holly on the capturing mission of the con. At first he didn't believe her, but she used "female persuasion" to make him believe him. And "female persuasion" meaning she tackled him down to ground and put him into a headlock. While that was happening, Artemis called Holly to explain that there will be an additional person there. Holly started to argue with him, but he won in the end.

So, Artemis and Diana convinced their parents that Sparks aka Bryan, wanted to spend the weekend here in Fowl Manor.

"But where is Jonathan?" Mrs. Fowl asked her son.

"He's—" Artemis tried to start."

"He's on vacation with his father, Mrs. Fowl." Diana quickly interjected.

"Oh, well if that's the case, all right he can stay, but please, _please_ don't break anything."

"Don't Mrs. Fowl, I'll try not to."

She smiled at everyone and said, "Diana, your parents and ourselves will be at the new country club at the outskirts of Dublin for the day, so you won't see us until tomorrow." She turned to Butler and Rhodes, "Can I trust you two to keep them out of trouble?"

"Of course Mrs. Fowl."

"Yes ma'am."

"Very well, see you tomorrow and have fun."

Then she walked out of the lobby, into the Fowl Bentley, where the others were waiting and they drove away. And now everybody started to file into Artemis' study where the LEP were waiting. But they were in for a big surprise.

* * *

Artemis cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. He looked at Diana, Rhodes, and Sparks who is still confused about this whole 'fairy' thing.

"Diana, Rhodes, Sparks," he addressed them, "this is Capt. Holly Short, whom I understand two of you already met."

Holly nodded at the girl and her two companions, Diana waved and Rhodes and Sparks gave a curt nod.

"I'll take the intros from here Fowl." said someone appearing from out of the shadows.

"Commander Root?" Holly asked him, clearly in disbelief, "B-B-But I thought Opal had killed you?!" She tried to keep her voice level and tears from running down her face.

"Short! How dare you think a stupid pixie like Koboi could kill your commander!"

"Out of curiousity, sir, how did you survive?" The female elf asked him.

Root cleared his throat, "I would just like to know how the little Mud Girl saved _you_ Short."

"With all due respect sir, let me explain."

This voice did come from a female, but not the one you're probably thinking of. That statement came Diana.

Root smirked at her, "Well? I'm waiting."

Quickly, she reenacted the events that allowed her to meet the LEP officier.

"Hmmmm. I see. Very well. Now here are the people that you will be working with. This is Major Trouble Kelp and his brother, Grub Kelp."

They both saluted to their commander and nodded at the new humans.

"This is our technician, Foaly."

He came out from behind the projection screen that was set up in the study, but he something looked a little lot different than usual.

* * *

_This may cliched but..._ "You'll never get away with this!" the captured co-commander yelled at his captors.

"Au contraire, I will get away with this."

"My squad is already looking for me! And what do you want with me anyway! I'm no use to you, whatever you are!"

He laughed at the now confused and still angry Jetix, "_You_ don't even know what you are!"

"What are you talking about! I'm a human being!"

"My, my, what a temper you have." Then the elder Koboi got so close to Jetix's face, he could see the hidden madness in his eyes and wickedly whispered to his face, "Just like your father_._"

Then in the blink of an eye, he was gone, leaving his stinging words buzzing insde his head.

"_Just like your father."_

More of his own thoughts echoed throughout his mind, _Does he know who my real father is? Maybe he knows who my mother is. Or maybe he just saw Dominic yelling at me and assumed that he's my father? I need more answers._

Artemis and Butler looked at Foaly in amazement.

"Foaly? Is that you?" Butler asked him.

"Yep. Why? Don't you like how I look?"

"You look fine," Artemis started, "it's just that..." he trailed off.

"What?"

Artemis said dryly, "You look completely human now."

* * *


	13. Foaly's Tale

Uh," Sparks began, "not to be out of the group or anything, but he's not normally like that?"

Everybody except his friends shook their heads.

"Oh, okay. But then what is he supposed to be?"

"_I_ am supposed to be a centaur, Mud Man or should I call you Sparks?"

"Sparks is fine."

Root cleared his throat once nore and spoke to the crowded room, "Foaly, explain to them what you're wearing."

"Right away Julius."

"DON'T CALL ME JULIUS!!"

"Right, sorry. Anyway, my new invention is this,"

He pointed to a fancy looking watch on his left wrist.

"I call it, the Fairy Into Mud Man Watch, FIMM Watch for short."

Everyone just nodded.

"Foaly!" Barked his commander, "Brief them on the rescue mission."

"Well now, I don't suppose Holly already told you who's behind this?"

"She told Artemis, sir, not us." Diana said to the centaur turned human.

"Yes, well--sir? Ooh, I like the sound of that." Foaly said to himself.

Root sighed and thought, _Never promote him. It's just going to go to his head._

"Never mind Pony Boy, _I'll_ brief them."

He picked up a remote from thetable and pushed a button, the projection screen showed a picture of a pixie riding a black haired centaur. Then he took out a laser pen from his pocket and pointed to the riding pixie.

"That is Opal Koboi's older brother.' Then at the centaur. "This is his right hand man, Brunswick Mahogany."

"Gee, he look fun to play with." Rhodes said sarcastically.

"Well he's not, uh--"

"It's Rhodes, sir."

"Rhodes. Anyway we believe he took this Mud Man," Root pushed another button to show a headshot of Jetix. His eyes showing the tiniest hint of regret, then returning back to their commanding glare and continued, "to somewhere actually not that far from here Fowl. Any suspicious activity 'round here?

Artemis noticed the slight emotion in his eyes, but said nothing of that, but said this, "No, not to my or Butler's knowledge. You haven't observed anything either?"

He sighed, "No, we haven't."

"Is there any information on the two people you showed us earlier?" Diana asked him.

"Well," Foaly started, "it just says on my files that Diamond is the older brother of Opal Koboi and Brunswick, there's nothing on."

Holly had a look of confusion on her face.

"But Foaly, didn't Diamond say that you knew Brunswick? Before you met Diamond himself?"

Foaly bit his lip, obviously thought that Holly had forgotten that.

He sighed a big sigh and said, "I don't know Diamond personally, only thorugh Opal, but I do know Brunswick."

"How?" Holly asked.

He sighed once more, "He once was my best friend."

All of the people in the room had ashtonished looks on their faces.

"This was before I met the Kobois and even before I joined LEP."

* * *

_A young Foaly, now a centaur, was sitting deer-style under a tree in a big meadow. This meadow was filled with other centaurs and then one of them came up to Foaly. He was black centaur, the hair on his head came down to his chin and he stared at the beaker with a type of acid inside Foaly was mixing with his pitch black eyes._

_"Working for the science fair again, Foaly?"_

_Foaly looked up, "Just another acid I've made." _

_"I'm sure you'll get first prize... again."_

_"It looks like Martha's favorite drink."_

_"Yeah, well I know for a fact that it's not." __He put the beaker down and stood up, "Yeah... Can you make sure no one does anything stupid with it?__ I forgot something and I would take it with me, but my mom would freak._

_"I think anyone would freak."_

_"Just watch it. But be careful, it burns skin on contact like that last seven I've made."_

_"Don't worry Foaly, I'll keep an eye on it for you."_

_"Thanks."_

* * *

"That stuff got me a place into that college I told you guys about, be before that, something happened that changed mine and especially Brunswick's lives forever."

* * *

_A now older Foaly, but not as old as he is now, was standing at a gravesite with Brunswick. The tombstone that they were kneeling in front of read:_

_Martha Mahogany (879-979)_

_Hope you have fun in your precious little dream world._

_Agatha, Dennison, and Brunswick, Your Loving Family _

_Brunswick had tears in his eyes and tears streaming down his face. He got up with the help of his crutched and turned to Foaly._

_"Why?! How could you let her drink that stuff!"_

_"Brunswick... I didn't leave on the counter on purpose!"_

_"LIAR!!" He roared making a few black birds emerge from their hiding spot. He softly began, "Who knew that in three days, the three days I left my sister in your care! I would lose her."_

_"But I--"_

_"I promised my parents that whenever they were gone, I would protect her! But because of my injury, I couldn't; so I trusted you...! It's your fault that she's gone forever!"_

_"Brunswick--"_

_"Save it Foaly." He shot a dark glare at his once best friend, "I swear, I swear I'll have my revenge!"_

_Then he ran, not knowing where his legs would take him. Not knowing what he would become. Not knowing the truth._

* * *

"That was the last I ever saw of him. I guess until now." Foaly glumly said.

Commander Root looked around, "We need a plan."

_No, duh..._ Diana thought.


	14. Checkmate

A/N - Almost finished people! Check out my new story, "The Hidden Family" where Artemis meets Yu Yu Hakusho! I'd also be grateful if you could check out my other account 'fowlgirl19' and its stories. Don't forget to R&R!

* * *

**4:30 pm, Artemis' Study, Fowl Manor**

Everybody, meaning Artemis, Foaly, and Diana, in their own way, were trying to figure out how to break into Koboi Labs. Artemis was meditating, Foaly doing stuff on his computer, and Diana was sitting on the windowsill in the study, watching the sunset. Butler looked interested at Diana and whispered to Rhodes,

"Is this always how she thinks?"

"It depends where we are. If we're somewhere where we can see the sky, she watches the sky."

"If we're in a windowless room?"

"She'll pick up something and start to play with it."

"How does she get her ideas?"

"I don't know, but I don't question her plans, they always work out in the end."

"And I don't know if you two are aware that we can hear your every word." Diana whispered right next to Rhodes and Butler.

The two bodyguards looked around the room and saw that everybody was staring at them. They grinned sheepishly and said,

"Sorry."

Diana just rolled her eyes and returned to the window, Foaly was snickering in the background, and Artemis was smirking. A few more minutes of silence came until Diana yelled out,

"I got it!"

Everybody just stared at her, mouths agape and eyes wide.

"What? I _do_have an idea, well this is only the first part anyway. Hey Foaly?"

"Yeah?"

"Does Diamond have any human contacts up here?"

"Uhhhhh..." Was his response while he was searching on his database. "Yeah, his name is Michael Branston."

"Michael Branston? Sparks, didn't I steal something from him sometime ago?"

"Oh yeah, I remember. It was you very first mission for GUN."

"Her mission was to steal something?" Commander Root interjected, "What did she have to steal?"

Diana looked at Sparks, who looked at Rhodes, who looked back at Diana, who smirked and stepped out of the room to get something. She came back in minutes later holding her laptop in hand.

"What I had to steal..." She said as she turned on her laptop and typing very rapidly and continuing, "was this."

She turned the screen toward the others and on it showed a what looked like an ordinary CD.

"A CD?" Artemis asked, "It doesn't look like anything special."

"Ah, on the contrary dear Artemis, this CD contains the most lethal computer virus ever to be constructed. What did he nickname it?"

"Lyssavirus X." Sparks answered.

"Rabies?" Artemis countered.

Diana sighed, "Yeah, but, it does have a lethal ring to it and besides, Branston was rumored to be a bit of a nutcase."

"A _**bit **_of nutcase? Diana, he thought walls could talk." Sparks answered his friend with an exasperated tone. She just shrugged her shoulders.

"Diana, what does Diamond having a human contact up here on the surface have to do with this?" Holly asked her.

"Well, I was thinking that Branston could tell us how the Kobois beefed up their security system and maybe a clue on how to find Jetix. And why he kidnapped him in the first place in exchange for something."

Root sighed, "Well, it's a good place to start as any. Now, the first thing to settle would be who's going to make the small talk."

Once again, Diana shrugged her shoulders, "I'll do it Commander."

Everybody in the room, except Rhodes and Sparks looked at her with worry written on their faces.

"But Diana--"

"Relax, Holly, I can handle. Besides, it's not like I haven't done this before."

"Yeah," Rhodes said, "I'll be with her, heads will roll before something bad will happen to Lady D."

Root still had a look of worry on his face, "Maybe, but I'll still send Short and Trouble to give you extra protection."

"I'll come along with you, Diana." Artemis said.

Immediately everyone looked at Artemis.

"Afraid your girlfriend's gonna get hurt Fowl?" Foaly joked at him.

His face turned bright red, "N-N-No of course not! I-I-I just want to make sure everything goes according to plan."

"Pfft. Whatever are you two--."

"_Thank _you Commander Root. Artemis, I would be glad to have you join me." Diana sweetly said. "But I should warn you, I'm very different when I meet with clients through GUN."

"Yeah, you won't even recognize her, believe you me." Sparks added.

"But when should we do it?" Trouble asked the brave human girl.

She pondered for a moment, "Tomorrow, at midnight, in the Callaghan Art & History Museum."

Sparks clapped his hands, "Good, I'll set it up."

During the rest of the day, everyone went over the first part of the plan, and _**everybody**_ knew that part, inside and out.

* * *

**12:00 am, Outside Callaghan Art & History Museum, Black Striker**

"Hey Sparks?"

"What Foaly?"

"Why is this car called 'Black Maria?"

"One: This is a police _van_. Two: This van was Diana's idea. And three: She chose the name, not me."

Foaly looked confused, "How was this her idea?"

Sparks smirked at him, "See, the problem was that sometimes it would take too long for them to receive the information I would send to them. And--"

"To everybody?"

"No, see, I am the head technician of the group that Jetix leads. And Diana and Rhodes are the other members of the group."

"Oh, I see. Continue."

"So Diana came up with a moblie tech unit codenamed 'Black Maria'."

"Huh, she has good ideas."

"Yeah, we know." He turned to the others in Black Maria as they were chatting, "Okay, does everybody remember the plan?"

"Yep!" They all responded.

"Diana, you and Artemis weasel the information from Branston. Rhodes and Butler make sure nothing happens to them." Sparks reminded the genii.

"What will the others do?" Diana asked.

"Well my little genius, Foaly and I will make sure everybody stays on task and to provide the information needed. Commander Root, Holly and Trouble will go in if the big guys can't handle it, although I highly doubt it."

"Wait! Let me put these iris-cams on Artemis and Diana." Foaly said.

Out of a jar, he took out a blue contact lense for Artemis and put it in his left eye. He knelt in front of Diana to see what color he needed.

"What lovely emerald green eyes you have my dear. You don't see that color very much anymore."

Foaly took out a matching iris-cam and placed it onto her right eye. And Sparks came up to the teens and handed Diana a choker and a diamond pair of earrings and Artemis a pin and a silver stud.

"What the heck are these for Sparks?"

"The choker and pin are mini-mikes, so you can communicate with us. And the earrings and stud are for hearing us inside Black Maria."

Diana had a look of surprise on her face, "How come you never gave me any of this stuff?"

"Because I know that you wouldn't need them because you had your sunglasses."

"Sunglasses?" Trouble asked.

"Yeah." Rhodes answered, "It's like your helmets, but more portable and... it's one-size-fits-all!"

Everybody chuckled.

Commander Root cleared his throat, "Is everybody ready?"

"Yes, sir!" The whole van answered.

"Now move out!"

Inside Callaghan Art & History Museum, Artemis started to ask Diana something,

"Why are you wearing that mask?"

She looked at him, "You of all people don't recognize this mask?"

He stared at it a little longer, "Wait, you're Masqueraine?"

Diana had a proud grin on her face, "Yep! Surprised?"

"Well she, or you rather, haven't robbed anything for over two years. And police sketches show an older woman."

"That was probably the year I joined GUN. And don't always believe those nimrod policemen. They don't _have_ the talent to capture true beauty."

Artemis smirked, Butler chuckled and Rhodes just rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Rhodes, where did Sparks say we had to meet him?"

"In the royal display wing, I think."

"So that would be... here."

She opened the fine oak door and inside was a room that looked like a throne room with a rich table that had a total of 12 red velvet chairs, five on each side of the table and one at the end. There was a chessboard in the middle of the table. All four of them stepped into the room. The door behind the four swung shut with a loud _BOOM_.

Rhodes and Butler were instantly in front of their charges ready to kick anybody's butt that would come into a 5-foot radius of them. A man that had brown hair and dark brown, almost black eyes and in his late 20s along with another guy who had dirty blonde hair with gold eyes in his early 40s were now in the room.

The younger man spoke, "Who do I have the honor of playing?"

Diana aka Raine said, "That would be me, Branston. Hello Syrus."

The older man nodded torwards the thief.

"Ahhhh, Masqueraine, pleasure to see you again. My computer virus wasn't enough for your greedy little hands?"

She just scoffed, "Are we going to play Branston? Or aren't we?"

"We will. Have a seat please. Your friends may have a seat as well."

Diana, Artemis, and Michael sat while Rhodes, Butler, and the man called Syrus stood.

Branston gestured to the chessboard, "You may have the first move."

And they started to play with Artemis, Butler, Rhodes, and Syrus watching their every move.

"Who's he? Boyfriend?" Michael asked as he made a check on Diana's king.

She smirked at him, "Why? Jealous?"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, "You wish."

Easily 15 minutes passed by and Diana was on the verge of winning when she decided to bring up Diamond.

"I hear you know a Diamond Koboi."

He stopped mid-play, "So what if I do?"

"I was hoping that you could give me some information."

"On what?"

"Someone he kidnapped."

"That Windsor guy?"

"That's the one." Diana responded as she, once again, put his king in check with her bishop.

"What do I get if I tell you?" He captured her bishop with his tower and put her king in check.

She motioned to Artemis to tell him.

"We will give you 50 grand."

"All right, I'll tell you. Diamond said that he would use the guy as a ransom for something called the Crown of Memories."

"What does it do exactly? Branston?" Diana asked her opponent.

"It can either restore or remove the entire memory of a person."

"So if a person doesn't know his, oh I don't know, his real parents, the Crown could restore the memory of them?"

"Yes or, if that person has a hidden past but never knew about it, the Crown could replay those events."

"Interesting." Artemis murmured to himself. He turned his attention back to the conversation with Diana talking.

"Can you tell me where he's being held captive?"

"That's going to require a little more incentive."

Diana jerked her torwards Rhodes and he brought up a suitcase and he opened it.

"This" Diana pointed to the money inside the suitcase, "is another 50 grand."

"Do I get this _and_ the previous 50 grand?"

"Of course."

"Well, now how can I refuse an offer like that. All right, he's in a basement under a mansion."

"Call you tell us where the house is?"

"It's perched on a cliff in Kellenburg. I think the address is 49151 Hasec Place."

"Mr. Branston, what would you say if I beat in this game?"

"Well Masqueraine, that would be hard because, heh, I always win."

"Really? That's funny because I never lose."

"Yeah, right."

"Well now, checkmate, Mr. Branston."

Branston looked astonished, he stood up amazed and looked at her with an expression that was priceless.

"Th-Th-That's impossible! I-I-I always win!"

Diana smirked and whispered to his face, "Well, Mr. Branston, I never lose. And thank you for the information. Let's go, we're leaving."

Diana and Artemis got up and Butler and Rhodes strodes torwards the door until Branston said,

"Where's the rest?"

Diana sighed irritably and motioned to Butler to set the other suitcase onto the ground. "Here."

She kicked it over to him so that it slid to his feet. Syrus opened it and counted the money. He nodded to his employer.

"Very well Raine. Good bye."

And they all walked out of the museum but not without Diana saying into her necklace,

"Phase One, complete."

Everybody inside of Black Striker high-fived, except Root, of course.


	15. That Was Easy

A/N - Almost finished people! Check out my new story, "The Hidden Family" where Artemis meets Yu Yu Hakusho! I'd also be grateful if you could check out my other account 'fowlgirl19' and its stories. Don't forget to R&R!

* * *

**10:00 am, Lobby, Inside GUN HQ**

_How did I get myself into this? _

Commander Root thought as he was sitting on an unusually comfy chair in the lobby of what that GUN techie boy, Sparks, called 'HQ'. Diana convinced him and Holly to masquerade as a human father and a human daughter. How? Foaly put on his stupid FIMM Watch onto his wrist and changed him into a 35 year-old Mud Man. Holly was going to be his 7 year-old daughter since there was only one FIMM Watch. Yep, he was going to kill Foaly and/or Sparks when this mission was finished. The reason he was doing was for _him_. He had to tell him, tell him the truth, tell him who he really is.

"Good morning Commander!" A happily and skipping Diana said to the high ranking official.

"Good morning Diana." Root mumbled to her. "Where's Holly?"

"Right here."

Behind Diana was Holly, a Holly in little Mud Girl clothes that is. And it looked like that she didn't like it one bit.

"Now then," Diana said to them both, "come with me so I can get you guys visitors' passes."

"We need visitors' passes?" Holly inquired the female prodigy.

She sighed, "Unfortunately. Old Windbag requires it."

"And 'Windbag' would be?"

"Our worst enemy." said Rhodes as he came up to the group.

Root raised an eyebrow, "Why would your commander be your worst enemy?"

"Because he's a sexist." Diana bluntly said.

The fairy commander noticed that Holly was shifting uncomfortable. Of course he knew the reason, but that was only to toughen her up. So he stated the obvious to the GUN agent.

"Don't you think it was to encourage you?"

Diana looked at Rhodes and they almost burst out laughing, "Him encourage me? Hah! That will be the day when hell freezes over!"

Now Holly spoke up, "You guys hate him that much?"

Rhodes answered, "Yeah... pretty much. Oh, here are your visitors' passes."

He handed each of the disguised fairies a laminated card on a lanyard labeled, 'Visitor Pass'.

"Hey Commander Root, what time is it?" Diana asked.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're the one with the watch!"

"Ha ha ha. Very funny. It's a quarter after. Why?"

Their two human companions both widened their eyes and ran for a hallway but not before yelling behind their backs,

"HURRY UP!!"

Holly and Root sped after them, catching up to them.

"Why are we running?" Holly asked Diana.

"We--have to get--to Control--before--"

"_CHASE!! IN MY OFFICE NOW!!_" A big voice bellowed out of nowhere.

Everybody skidded to a stop. Commander Root and Holly could hear Rhodes muttering under his breath.

"I swear if he threatens you again Lady D, I _swear_ I'm gonna--"

"Rhodes!" The manservant looked an his employer, "Get Holly to Control, Commander come with me and help me deal with Windsor."

"Right. Come on Holly." And off they went.

Now, Commander Root wasn't to happy about taking orders, but he followed her anyway. Diana beckoned to him and told him to take off the visitors' pass from his neck.

"Commander, I know that this will be sort of hard for you, but I need you to agree with everything I say."

"Why do I have to--"

"Just agree!"

He sighed, "All right, but just this once."

She smiled knowingly at him and they walked into Commander Windsor's office.

* * *

**11:00 am, Surveillance Control, GUN HQ**

"And you let them go into Windsor's office _alone_?!"

That was the first sentence that slid its way out of Sparks' mouth.

"She's with Commander Root."

"Oh my--"

Then the door burst opening with a smiling Diana and a smirking Root.

Sparks raised an eyebrow, "Diana smiling after a visit to the Commander's office. Something good must have happened and I wanna hear what happened now."

Diana smiled big again, "Oh, I got a yelling, but you will not believe what we found in his office."

"What?!" Everybody asked/yelled.

She grinned at Root who smirked back and she said, "The Crown of Memories."

Everybody's face and yes including our little Arty's was like this: OO

"Ar-Ar-Are you sure Diana?" He asked.

"Positive Artemis. You could even ask the Commander here."

"Well Julius?"

"Firstly, don't call me Julius, Pony-Boy and next off, it's true, it was the Crown of Memories. I have seen it with my own eyes and I remember it very clearly."

"If you don't mind me asking Commander, where did you see it?" Butler asked Root.

"I saw it when I..."

"Come on Julius! Out with it!"

He shot a menacing glare at Foaly but he sighed and whispered so that everybody could still hear him, "I had to wipe the memory of someone special to me."

Once again, everybody's face was like this: OO

Holly quietly asked her commander, "Would you mind telling us?"

His eyes immediately strode down to the creamy-colored tiled floor. His voice was barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry. I can't, I just can't." He tried to control his emotions, "I need some air." And he rushed out of the room.

"I'm worried." Holly said.

"Me too. He's never rushed out of a room without yelling before." Foaly added.

"I know that this might sound weird to you guys since I just met him a yesterday but..." She looked around the room to catch everybody's eye and continued, "Well... do you think that he might be hiding something from us?"

Everybody was still dumbstruck about the Root episode. But they had other things to focus on. Diana had an idea on how to get the Crown away from their oh-so-beloved Commander Windsor.

"I know how to get the Crown away from Windsor." She stated.

"Will you tell us?" Her manservant asked.

"Yes. Firstly, we need a distraction to get Windsor out of his office."

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I wanna be the distraction! _I wanna be the distraction!_" These words came out of a surprising person. It was Sparks!

Diana raised an eyebrow at the excited techie. "But... you're, like, so afraid of him."

"I know, but... let's say that I wanna get to know him more."

Diana sighed, "Dude, seriously?"

He shrugged and grinned, "I just want to complete my life's mission of annoying him to wit's end _and_ also coming back with all of my limbs attached."

Sparks quickly caught Foaly's eye and winked at him.

Foaly smirked and asked the human techie, "What are you going to do when you and I quote "annoy him to wit's end?" Himself being glad that his commanding officer wasn't here when he said that.

He smiled a big smile and said three simple words, "You'll find out."

* * *

**2:15 pm, Surveillance Control, GUN HQ**

After 15 minutes of planning, Diana and Artemis doing the planning of course, everybody was okay with the plan, but they were still waiting for Commander Root. Foaly and Holly, still in her disguise, sighed.

"Maybe me and Foaly should go look for him."

"Foaly and _I_, Holly."

She groaned, "Great. Now _Diana's_ another walking and talking grammar corrector."

Diana smiled sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders, "Sorry Holls, force of habit."

'Uh-huh, sure it is. You know, maybe you're hanging around Art--"

"That's enough Holly." Foaly interrupted. "Let's go find Julius now so that when the others come back with the Crown, we'll be ready."

"Fine."

And they left to find their AWOL commander.

"Hey guys. Everybody ready?" Sparks who came up to them asked.

"We're ready." Artemis answered.

"So Sparks, what **are** you going to do?"

He smirked, "Just hand me that bat, Rhodes, and you'll find out."

Rhodes' eyes wandered to a baseball bat by his left foot, "And why is there a baseball bat here?"

"Just give me it."

Rhodes handed Sparks the bat who swung it over his shoulder and just as he was about to walk out of the door, he said, "Rush into his office after the signal."

"What's the signal?" Butler asked.

"You'll know it, trust me." He said as he finally walked out of Control.

Everyone heard nothing for a few moments until.

_CRASH!!_

Diana leaned over to Artemis and whispered to him, "That sounded like something expensive." He just nodded and subconsciously noted how her breath was scented like cinnamon.

Then they heard something which made Diana literally jumped into Artemis' arms.

_"**GRAAAAAAAAAAAAANT!!**"_

The next thing they knew Sparks was laughing like a madman with Windsor who was like a wild troll with a look of a killer, came trashing after him. Rhodes, Butler, Trouble, Diana, who eventually came out of Artemis' arms who was in turn blushing like an embarrassed tomato.

Once inside Windsor's office, Diana made a beeline to the Crown. However, there was a lock on it. An old-fashioned lock.

"You know for someone who's obsessed with security, he needs to beef up his." Rhodes commented.

"You can break into it? Right, Diana?" Trouble asked the female GUN agent.

She put on an unemotional face that Artemis recognized all too well. It was the same face that he himself sometimes had to put on.

"You know, I _am _a museum thief after all."

"Heh. Right. Sorry." Trouble weakly said.

Artemis had told all of them this while sleeping the night before. He watch in curiosity as Diana took a little knife from out of her breast pocket. He coaxed it into the lock's hole and with determination, broke open the lock. Just in time too, as they heard the loud grumbling of the GUN Commander coming towards them.

"Come on, let's go." Butler said as he ushered Artemis and the others out of the room.

* * *

**2:30 pm, Surveillance Control, GUN HQ**

"So-did--you guys--get it?" An out of breath Sparks asked the ragtag group.

"Yeah we got it! Show 'em Lady D!"

Diana held up a beautiful crown that shimmered under the bright lights in Control.

"Well, that was easy. Now all we need is the exact location of where Diamond's holding Jetix. Now I think in the conversation Diana had with Branston... Never mind I'll just play the audio tape."

The midnight conversation was ringing in everyone's ears. Well except for Foaly, Holly, and Commander Root who wasn't there.

_"This" There was a slight pause, "is another 50 grand."_

_"Do I get this and the previous 50 grand?"_

_"Of course."_

_"Well, now how can I refuse an offer like that. All right, he's in a basement under a mansion."_

_"Call you tell us where the house is?"_

_"It's perched on a cliff in Kellenburg. I think the address is 49151 Hasec Place."_

Diana's eyes widened when she heard that last sentence.

Artemis, being a genius, noticed this and said, "What's wrong, Diana?"

Diana swallowed, "49151 Hasec Place."

Rhodes now knew why Diana was worried and/or surprised, "Oh my God, he's-he's-he's--"

"He's what?!" An impatient Trouble asked.

Rhodes continued, "He's being held captive in Chase Estate, in other words--"

"At my house."

And I think we all know who said that.


	16. Planning It Out

A/N - Almost finished people! Check out my new story, "The Hidden Family" where Artemis meets Yu Yu Hakusho! I'd also be grateful if you could check out my other account 'fowlgirl19' and its stories. Don't forget to R&R!

* * *

"But I thought he was stashed away in Koboi Labs!" Sparks exclaimed.

"Well apparently not, dude." Rhodes said.

Diana stepped over the Sparks' desk and picked up her set of high-tech suglasses. She started to twirl them in her hands like a baton. _How are we going to find Jetix in my basement? I don't even think we have a basement! Oh, wait! I know! _

"Hey Sparks, can I borrow a communicator cable?"

"Yeah, sure, it's right next to you."

She picked one up, it was about two meters long, but the actual head of the cable was no larger than the bristle on a hairbrush. She stuck in the side hole of her glasses and then she nodded at Sparks who was back at the computer. He rapidly typed something and then a hologram model of Diana's mansion was projected from the lenses.

"Okay, here you go, Di. You might need this."

Sparks tossed a laser pointer to Diana who caught it.

"Thank you. Now then, we will split up into three groups. Group One find Jetix and get him out to safety where Group Two will take care of any injuries. Finally, Group Three will stall both Diamond and Brunswick with the Crown of Memories."

"But Diana, there are a lot of loopholes and giltches in this plan."

"I know Artemis, I know. But it's the only safe plan I could think of and I don't want to risk yo--I mean--anybody during this." Diana said this with a light blush on her cheeks after the last part of that sentence.

_I almost said "I don't want to risk you."! I need to be more careful of what I say. Luckily Holly and especially Foaly wasn't around to hear me said that. Thinking of which..._

She cleared her throat, "First, Group Three will shall enter through the front entrance to distract Koboi and Mahogany. This will be--"

"Hey everybody! We found Commander Root!" Foaly shouted as they came into Control.

"Where was he?" Grub asked.

"On the roof." Holly simply said. "We're we interrupting something?"

"Diana was explaining her plan on how to rescue Jetix from her house."

"I thought he was being held in Koboi Labs." Root gruffly said.

"I guess they moved him."

Diana cleared throat once more, "May I continue?"

"Sorry." Foaly and Holly apoligized.

"Now, as I was saying, Group Three will enter by the front door to barter with Koboi and Mahogany. This group will be Foaly, Butler and Artemis."

Everybody nodded but Foaly had to whine.

"Why do I have to go?! I'm the smart guy who bails everybody out of trouble!"

"Foaly," Holly started, "Diamond said you have to deliver to Crown of Memories to him."

"Please Foaly!" Diana said with an non-human like cuteness in her voice and facial expression. "Or else something bad might happen to Jetix!" After she said that she looked like that she was about to cry.

Everybody had a look on their that showed sympathy to Diana and they glared at Foaly.

He sighed, "All right, all right. I'll do it."

Diana smiled and everybody smirked.

She continued with her plan, "Group Two will stay in Black Striker. Group Two will be made up of Grub, Trouble and Sparks."

"Trouble! Grub!" Barked their commander, "Are you running hot?"

"Yes, sir!" They both replied.

The female human looked at Commander Root who nodded for her to continue.

"Lastly, Group One will be Commander Root, Rhodes, Holly, and myself. We'll be entering on the side, preferably my room. Our objective will be to get Jetix out safely."

All of the group members who were named showed some sign of agreement.

"When are we gonna do this?" Grub asked.

Diana answered him, "We need to do it, before our parents come home, Artemis. I say, 5:00 pm."

"That will be fine Diana."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" An excited Rhodes exclaimed.

* * *

**4:50 pm, Outside Chase Estate, Black Striker**

"Foaly and I need to give everybody an iris-cam, at least one member in Groups One and Three need to have a communicator in each group, and either your LEP helmet or your sunglasses."

Every human got a pair of sunglasses with a fairy upgrade by Foaly, each member got fitted with an iris-cam and Artemis, Diana, Commander Root, and Holly got a communicator. Diana and Artemis were in the back of Black Striker.

"Artemis?" Diana said to him.

"What?"

"Here. They're the keys to the front, I thought you might need them."

He smiled; it was a small one, but he smiled, "Thanks."

He saw her look a little nervous and she sighed, looked at him and whispered, "Good luck."

He looked at her and whispered back, "Good luck to you as well, Diana." For a moment, he caught her eye.

_Foaly was right, her eyes are a lovely shade of green._

In that moment, their faces got closer and closer until...

"Everyone know their positions?!" Root boomed.

They broke their eye contact and looked to the floor of the van.

"Yes, sir!" The whole van responded.

"Good. Now move out!"

When they split up at the gate, Artemis took one last longing look at Diana. Butler clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"Tell her when this is over."

Artemis tried swallowed the lump in his throat and whispered two words, "I will."


	17. Situations

A/N - Almost finished people! Check out my new story, "The Hidden Family" where Artemis meets Yu Yu Hakusho! I'd also be grateful if you could check out my other account 'lolza19' and its stories. I have good news and bad new my readers. The bad news is that Old Friends, New Friends is drawing to a close. moment of silence But the good news is that there will be sequel! On with the very long and action-packed story! Don't forget to R&R!

* * *

**5:00 pm, Chase Estate, Group Three**

Artemis unlocked the door with the key Diana gave him. It was Diana's own key because it had her initials carved into it. When Artemis, Butler, and Foaly, who was a human for now, stepped inside, a lobby who's grand decor could rival that of Fowl Manor.

"Hey Fowl. Her house is as fancy as your place. But it looks more cheerful. No offense."

"None taken. All we have to do is locate where Diamond and Brunswick are."

"I can do that for ya." Sparks' voice crackled though Artemis' pair of glasses. He heard some typing, whirring, and then, "He's in the library. Go two hallways down, turn right, go into the room on your second right, and then go up the middle staircase and into the door marked 'Library'. Got it?"

Foaly groaned, "I hate walking! I just sit in my swivel chair all day!"

Sparks laughed, "Oh, well. Did you guys follow what I told you or do you need me to repeat it again? . . . Which I won't. "

"All ready there Sparks." Butler said to the GUN techie.

"Wow, that was fast."

Foaly, who now took off the FIMM Watch because they didn't need walk far anymore, stepped inside first. It was a huge library was books upon books upon shelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling. And to top it all off, there was a grand fireplace with three sofas and three loungers.

"You know, if we didn't have to come here for a rescue mission, I could have some fun in here."

"You and fun were created on opposite sides and of the universe, Fowl."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny, Foaly."

"Hey, I try." He cleared his throat, "Hey, Diamond?! Brunswick?! Are you here?!" He shouted into the vast library.

The door snapped shut, "Why we're right here, _old friend_." You could probably guess who said that.

* * *

**Same Time, Chase Estate, Group One**

"D'Arvit! How high _is_ your bedroom anyway, Diana?"

"Shhh. Quiet, Holly, or they might hear you!"

"Both of you be quiet so she can get inside!"

"Sorry Commander Root. Sorry Rhodes."

If you're wondering, Holly is balanced on Commander Root who's balanced on Diana, who's balancing on the lowest ledge of the manor which was rough 3 1/2 meters. And Rhodes is at the bottom ready to catch his principle if she fell. Holly scrambled in and pulled up her superior and they both yanked up Diana who was about to fall off the ledge. As a result, they all crashed down to the half-hardwood floor, half-plush carpet.

"Okkaay! That hurt."

"Tell me something you don't know, Diana, if you _can_ that is."

"D'Arvit! Holly, Diana, GET OFF OF ME!!"

The girls got up with Holly making sure that nothing broke and Diana checking her hair in the mirror in her room and Root got up swearing. The two fairies stared at Diana who was adoring herself in the mirror.

She saw them look at her strangely, "What? I like looking at myself in mirrors."

"It's true, she does." Rhodes said climbing into the bedroom, "Anyway, let's get going, Jetix should be in the basement. Any shortcuts, Lady D?"

"Yup. Just give me a minute to find it."

She motioned Holly and Root outside while she was looking at a painting of her family. She was only five when the portrait was painted. Her father was standing next to Rhodes who was 28 and standing on his left. Her mother was sitting in her favorite chair with Diana in her lap.

"Hey, Diana?"

"Yes, Holly?"

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"This."

The frame of the portrait was made in the early 18th century, wavy and rigid with a gold finish. She pushed a button masked to look like one of the complicated swirls and the wall to the left of her opened up revealing a staircase. It was wide enough for Rhodes and Butler to fit through, side by side.

Diana smirked and wiggled her fingers, "Open Sesame." She giggled. "Come on, it leads to the basement."

And downstairs they all went; hoping to find Jetix, but found some other things as well.

* * *

**5:25 pm, Chase Library, Group Three**

"Brunswick!" They all yelled.

"Don't forget me."

"And Diamond too!" Foaly exclaimed.

Diamond looked exactly like Foaly had remembered, slick back raven hair and eyes that looked like diamonds, hence his name and of course, the latest evil criminal fashion. If Foaly thought about, he looked like a mini version of Artemis, albeit if he was related to Opal so he had that manic look in his eyes.

He chuckled, "Correct. Now, where's the Crown of Memories?"

"Right here."

"A Mud Boy? You brought a worthless Mud Boy with you?! Oh, Foaly, so low you have sunk. Anymore worthless humans?"

"_They're not worthless!"_

"Oh, so there is another one. Brunswick, get the crown from them. I will go handle the Mud Girl personally." His servant nodded.

When Artemis heard those words, his face turned even paler than a ghost.

"Diamond! How do you know that there was another human?! And that it was a girl?!"

"Foaly, no!" warned Artemis.

Diamond laughed out loud, "Because you just told me. And you call yourself the smartest creature in the universe. You're not even smarter than me! And the best part is that I already know where she is!" He yelled that last statement as he was going downstairs to the basement.

"Foaly. Give me the Crown and I promise not to hurt your friends."

"Why are you doing this Brunswick? We used to be best friends!"

"_Used_to be, Foaly. Not after what you did to Martha!" His breath turned raspy now. "She was everything to me! And you killed her! You killed her with that dmn acid of yours!" He started to laugh now, "And I bet you won that Science Fair medal back then too! And then you beat Diamond's sister! I bet it pleased the judges that your acid worked _so_ well!"

"Bruns, it didn't happen that way."

"_LIAR!!_"

That word stung Foaly. It hurt him so bad. That word had cost him his best friend.

"Butler, give him the Crown."

Butler gave him an 'are-you-crazy-' look, but Artemis nodded, so he reluctantly did anyway. Just as he was about to hand Brunswick the Crown, a Neutrino 3000 laser shot out, knocking the Crown out of Butler's hand, amazingly, without hurting him.

"Who's there?!" Brunswick roared.

* * *

**5:30 pm, Basement, Group One**

It was a two story stairway with who knows how many steps and by the time all of them got down there, all were exhausted.

"You know... Commander Root, we could have just flown down here."

A look of realization spawned across his face, "Oh, yeah. Hey Sparky Boy! Can you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear, Commander Root, all though a _little_ too loud."

"What was that?!"

"N-N-Nothing Commander Root. Anyway, what do you need?"

"Did you locate your friend yet?"

"Uhhhh... Yeah, he's behind that door with all of these weird reptile-thingies blocking the doorway."

"What reptile-thingies?" Root looked up, "Those reptile-thingies." He saw an all too familiar hovercraft floating above the goblins' heads. A Koboi Hoverboy. "Koboi." He growled.

Diamond smirked, "Hello, Commander Root. I see you haven't change since Kerrington passed."

"_Don't you dare mention that to me!_" He roared.

"What is he talking about, sir?" Holly asked him. He looked away from her.

"Commander, look out!" Rhodes dove to tackled him down from a goblin with a softnose. Rhodes almost got hit but he still felt the power of the laser burst. "Commander Root, you and Lady D go and get Jetix out of here. Holly and I will get rid of these...uh..."

"Goblins."

"Thank you. Goblins and then you and/or Jetix can have your way with Diamond."

Root smriked at the bodyguard, "All right. Diana! Listen, come with me to find your friend."

"'Kay."

The commander questioned her slang but then thought nothing of it. They went through the door that Diana kicked down and the last thing they saw was both Holly and Rhodes beating the sht out of the goblins.

Commander Root and Diana came across a hallways full of more doors.

"D'Arvit! Which one is he in?"

"I guess we have to check all of them. You take the left and I'll take the right."

Diana opened door after door after door, but to no avail. She noticed, however, that Commander Root was looking frantically, like a kid who lost their favorite toy and was ripping apart their house to find it. Finally, after the tenth door, she found him. Sure, he was dangling from the ceiling bound and gagged and with a lock on his stomach, but he was there and in one piece.

Diana ran to him, "Jetix! Jetix! Hey, Jetix! Are you okay?"

He looked at her wearily and grunted. Diana ripped off the duct tape. "Ahhhhh!" He glared. "Couldn't you be a little more gentler?"

She tapped her lip as if in serious thought then smiled, "No."

Jetix sighed then coughed. "Uhhh. Water."

"I have a water capsule. Open his mouth, Diana."

She held his mouth open and Root placed the water-filled ball on his tongue and pierced it open.

Relief (and most of the water) washed over him, "Thanks, I needed that. Who are you?"

"I'm your f--I mean--I'm your commanding officer for this operation. Commander Root."

"But you're not my dad." Root flinched at the word, "dad".

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Do you need help getting unchained?"

"Please."

Diana smiled at him. She took out the same little knife that she had used earlier. She started to pick at it for five minutes.

Root growled, "D'Arvit. We don't have all day."

She growled back, "Shut up, Commander." She glared at him. "Maybe you would like to do this?"

Root was taken aback. He considered everything that was going to happen once Jetix found out; so after he made a mental note to yell at her later, he just grunted.

Moments later, Jetix got free. Of course there now was a lock-shaped bruise on his stomach, but he was free.

Root cleared his throat, "Diana, Jetix, your friends are in danger and I am not going to take any responsibility for any casualties they might cause."

Jetix looked up at his best friend but there was a look of alarm on his face. She noticed this. "Jet? What's wrong?"

"Diana." He talked as if he was trying to stay calm himself. "Don't move."

She tried to see what was making him so worried but she got yelled at in response.

"Dmmit! I said don't move!"

Scenarios were buzzing around in Jetix's head. His best friend was in trouble; some weird old dude was here; and some little person thing that looked familiar was on a giant floating pet bed holding a gun, a human gun, to Diana's head.

_Okay, calm down, John. Dominic must have told you something useful! Ugh! Why didn't I pay attention to anything he said!_

Then he felt something tap his foot. He looked up at the eyes of person thing and remembered that they belonged to his kidnapper! But he didn't notice him looking. Jetix glanced down at his feet again.

He looked at the foreign object all confused. "A weird ray gun?"

"For your information, these are the latest models in fairy weaponry. They outdate your pistols by centuries." Root whispered gruffly.

Jetix shrugged, "Okay." He picked it up but Diamond didn't notice. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the Commander. "I got a plan."

He looked and saw that Diamond was whispering stuff in Diana's ear. Diana started to whisper back and Jetix noticed that she was either annoyed, disgusted, or afraid. Jetix thought it was a combination of the three.

And it was. She couldn't believe what Diamond Koboi was whispering in her ear.

"When I become the Emperor of the entire world, you, my dear shall be my queen."

Diana almost laughed, "I thought you hated humans."

His dark chuckle gave Diana shivers. "I do." He started to play with her hair. "But you, are an exception."

"I'd rather kill myself than be your queen."

He smiled, "There's no need for that." Diamond roughly yanked her hair which made her cry out in pain. That was the first time she saw his eyes, they were icy and dangerous and they had a manic look to them. "If you refuse, you are not fit to exist in_ my_ world."

When heard the gun cock, every heartbeat felt and sounded like a horse's hoof beat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jetix nodding his head slowly and held up one finger with his free hand that was out of Diamond's range of view. She knew what that meant. She had only a minute to get out of Diamond's grasp and onto the ground or else Jetix would accidentally shoot her too.


	18. Turning the Tables

A/N - Almost finished people! Check out my new story, "The Hidden Family" where Artemis meets Yu Yu Hakusho! I'd also be grateful if you could check out my other account 'lolza19' and its stories. I have good news and bad new my readers. The bad news is that Old Friends, New Friends is drawing to a close. moment of silence But the good news is that there will be sequel! On with the very long and action-packed story! Don't forget to R&R!

* * *

Jetix started to count once Diana gave a small nod. He looked at the other guy in the room, what was his name, Root? Jetix hoped that he wouldn't give them away.

_This. . ._ Jetix thought, _is going to be the longest minute of my life._

Unfortunately for Diana, this was going to be the longest minute of her life too.

_I can't believe I'm about to do this!_

She looked up into Diamond's eyes. "You're right." she whispered.

Her captor raised an eyebrow, "About what?"

Diana almost gagged when she said this, "I would be a fool to resist the offer of being your queen." She added in that fluttering eyelashes thing that she saw in her mother's old (and cheesy) romance movies.

He took the bait; he let go of her hair. He smoothed back his own, closed his eyes and smirked. "Well, of course you'd be a fool to turn down the offer of being my queen."

When he opened his eyes, he got a Neutrino burst to the gut. The good news for him? His Koboi Hoverboi protected his gut. The bad news? The burst was strong enough to knock the contraption into the pipe above the door. He was knocked out cold.

Then Jetix just burst out laughing, "What the hell was that?" He imitated the eyelash thing. "Oh, Diamond." He said in a falsetto voice. "I would be a fool to resist the offer of being your queen." He just exploded. "Man, you even made me miss!"

Diana raised an eyebrow, "No you didn't. You him square in the gut. . . you would have if that hovercraft wasn't blocking it."

Jetix grinned at his best friend and he placed an arm around her shoulder, "Ah, but you see." He leaned in close to her ear and whispered so softly. "I was aiming for his head." He looked at her and smiled.

"Ahem!" Root glared at the two before him. For some reason, the glare made Jetix let go of Diana's shoulder. "We have more important matters to attend to."

Jetix stared at him cluelessly, "Like?"

Root groaned, "D'Arvit! We still didn't explain anything to you did we?"

He just grinned like a loon, "Nope."

At that moment, Rhodes thundered into the room. "Is everybody okay?!" He pointed his Mosquito at Jetix, "Are you okay?"

Jetix glared and swatted the gun away from his face. "Yes, I'm fine. And watch where you're pointing that thing!"

Rhodes grinned sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Rhodes!"

"Uh, yes, Commander?"

"Holly!"

"Uh, excuse me?"

"Where's Holly--I mean, Captain Short?"

"Right here." Diana smiled as she saw Holly's face. Even if it was covered with ashes and besides the fact that her parts of her hair were singed.

Holly noticed Diana's staring. "This is what happens when you get too close to an angry goblin hurling fireballs."

She grinned, "Thank you for that lovely visual aid."

"No prob." Holly looked over at the uncouscious Diamond. "What the heck happened to him?"

"Nothing." Diana and Jetix replied.

Rhodes walked over and picked Diamond up by the scruff of his fancy shirt.

"I can't believe this happened because . . . ." He looked up, "How did this start?"

Jetix groaned. "I'll explain later."

As if on cue, a very annoying ringtone filled the room. Diana, Jetix and Rhodes groaned but Diana groaned the loudest.

"It's mine." With a grunt, she pulled out her communicator. "Okay, Sparks, you know I appreciate you."

"Yeeessssss?" His voice filled the room.

"But we seriously need to talk about changing the ringtone."

"Hey, don't look at me! It's Foaly's!"

Diana felt a tap on her shoulder, "What, Jet?"

"Let me talk to Sparks."

"Okay."

She tossed her communicator to him, "Sparks, you're gonna be a dead man when you get in arm's length of me. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-Y-Yes, sir." He said nervously.

Jetix smiled, "Good. Here."

He tossed it back to Diana. "Sparks, can you tell me where Artemis and the others are?"

"They're in the library."

"Thanks. See you on the outside."

"All right. What are we waiting for? Let's go kick Brunswick's butt!"

"And Brunswick is . . . ?"

On the way up, Holly explained to Diana what happened when she and the Commander left. Rhodes was just walking, however, he noticed that Root was giving unusual worried glances at Jetix was carrying Diamond who was slung over his shoulder. Holly saw Butler about to hand over the Crown of Memories to Brunswick. So she grabbed Jetix's gun and fired it at the Crown, just barely missing Butler's hand.

"Who's there?!" Brunswick roared.

Jetix smirked and balanced Diamond on his shoulder, "So we finally meet, whoever you are."

Diana groaned, "Dmmit! We still didn't explain anything to him did we?"

"Nope."

"Nuh-uh."

"Unfortunately."

It was then that Jetix heard a sound of a gun cocking once more. His face turned ghostly pale after he realized a chilling thought _and_ fact.

He had forgot to confiscate the gun from Diamond.

The manic pixie grinned and whispered into Jetix's left ear, "The tables have turned, _Root_."


	19. Captured!

A/N - Almost finished people! Check out my new story, "The Hidden Family" where Artemis meets Yu Yu Hakusho! I'd also be grateful if you could check out my other account 'lolza19' and its stories. I have good news and bad new my readers. The bad news is that Old Friends, New Friends is drawing to a close. moment of silence But the good news is that there will be sequel! On with the very long and action-packed story! Don't forget to R&R!

* * *

All was deathly quiet in the library. Jetix could feel his heart going a mile a minute with that gun held to his head.

Calmly, he asked the manic pixie, "What the _hell_ are you talking about?"

Instead of answering him, Diamond looked at Commander Root, cocked his head, and grinned. "You mean you didn't tell him? Your own son?"

All who were in the library just gawked at Diamond, the Commander, Jetix, and the idea that Commander Julius Root had a son.

However, he just glared. "You better watch yourself, Koboi."

"So you didn't tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

The Commander remained silent.

"My dear boy, he made your mother forget everything with the Crown of Memories."

"Everything?"

"Oh, yes. Even about having a son." He chuckled. "You."

Jetix was doing everything he could to keep calm. He closed his eyes; he took in deep breaths; and he balled his fists so tight that his nails were about to puncture his skin. Unfortunately, he also wasn't paying attention; Diamond knocked him out with the butt of the gun. He collapsed to the ground unconscious.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

Diamond ran to Brunswick and whispered something into his ear; the centaur smiled and Diamond ran without anyone noticing. Diana took that opportunity to try and drag Jetix out of the way.

_Who knew it was so hard to drag someone out of danger. Rhodes makes it look so easy. . . _

She felt the air whoosh beside her and saw Rhodes tackling Brunswick down to the ground.

"Lady D, take everybody out of here!"

"But Rhodes--"

"Your parents will kill me if I let anything happen to you!" He grunted as Brunswick kicked him in the gut.

Diana felt a massive hand clamp down on her shoulder. "Butler. . . ."

"Listen to Rhodes. We both know that he can handle it."

She nodded and looked at her bodyguard wrestling with the enraged centaur with tears in her eyes. "Rhodes, if you come out in five minutes I'm going back in myself!"

He winked, "That's more than enough." Rhodes yelped he got flipped over. "Now go!"

Diana turned and saw Jetix already slung but more like dangling over Butler's shoulder with Artemis by his side. He gave a small smile and nodded. They both stared at each other for a few moments until. . . .

"D'Arvit! Artemis! Butler! Diana! Move out!" Holly yelled.

The three of them started to run. Diana peered one last time into the library and got the feeling that they were forgetting something. . . something important. But she just shrugged it off and hurried to catch up to Butler and Artemis.

* * *

**Same Time, Diana's Room, Chase Estate**

Diamond smiled as he saw the Mud Boy, the giant Mud Man, the elf girl, and Foaly escaped into that vehicle. His sister swore revenge on all of them. But he wasn't interesting in any of them, oh no. . . . He was interested in that human girl, Diana, his future queen. In fact, the room he was standing in belonged to her. Diamond grinned at he held the sniper in his hand. He picked it up on the way here from a closet and to his surprise, it was filled with exactly what he needed: tranquilizer darts.

Despite his height, Diamond had a clear shot. Lucky for him, she was a ways behind the others. He lined up the cross hairs with her back and pulled back the trigger. Perfect shot. She crumpled down to the ground sideways with a soft, unnoticeable thud behind a bush which concealed most of her slender body.

She was finally his and only his.

Diamond slowly made his way down to collect his prize. According to his calculations, Brunswick should still be fighting with that large human who accompanied her everywhere; those who were in that vehicle wouldn't notice her being gone until it was too late.

He reached to where his queen laid and admired her for a while. _She's perfect._

Diamond dragged her back inside with some difficulty but made it without being seen. . . well, almost.

* * *

**Same Time, Inside Black Striker, Chase Estate**

Sparks gaped at the screen. "Holy sht! Diamond has Diana!" He turned to the group behind him. He looked at the makeshift gurney. "Is Jet awake?"

Holly shook her head, "He's still out of it. Why?"

"'Cause then he could go back in and get her!"

"But wouldn't Butler be better off?"

"Does he know his way around in there like Jetix does?"

"Can't say that I do."

"Do we have any water?" Artemis asked. Holly him half a bottle from the mini-fridge. "Thank you. If this doesn't work, I'm not sure what will."

Artemis splashed the cold water on the unconscious teen's face. It worked.

"Ahhhh! Cold!" He gasped, "What the hell, kid?!"

"Jetix, dude! Diamond has Diana!"

He stood up to the best of his ability. "What! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!"

"There was no--"

"Never mind. What room is she in?"

"Hers. I think."

Jetix jumped out the back. "I'm going in."

"I'm coming with you."

Jetix glared at the Commander. "What are _you_stil doing here?"

"I said I'm coming with you."

"No you're not."

"Well, too bad." Commander Root started off.

Jetix was about to yell but Sparks cut him off. "Dude, forget about about the 'dad' thing and go get Diana before Rhodes finds out kills us! Oh, and take these."

He grunted. "Whatever." And he caught the sunglasses and communicator and unwillingly followed Commander Root to the door.

_All right, **Dad**, I want answers and you're gonna give them to me. But Diana's who I'm worried about right now._


End file.
